Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Research

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has spent on research conducted by (a) private bodies and (b) public bodies in each of the last five years.

Mr John Hayes: The Department does not hold data which analyses research expenditure in the way requested and the information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Railways

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to assess the applicability of practices on continental European railway systems for developing measures to increase capacity on UK rail lines; and what assessment his Department has made of the (a) potential merits and (b) practicability of adopting double-decker trains on some UK lines.

Paul Maynard: The Department commissioned in 2007 a study by Network Rail into the use of double-decked trains which can be found at Preliminary Evaluation of Double Deck & Extra Long Train Operations. The outcome of the report found that it would not be economic to introduce double decker trains on the existing rail network. In 2010 the Department commissioned a study by Atkins into alternatives to the building of HS2 which considered the use of double decked trains on West Coast and Midland main lines which can be found at High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study Rail Interventions Report, the conclusion in respect of double decker trains rejected the idea because it was significantly more expensive and disruptive. Network Rail have also undertaken a study to look at the potential use of double-decked trains on the Wessex Route for services into Waterloo. Details can be found at http://www.networkrail.co.uk/long-term-planning-process/Wessex-route-study/.

Southern: Finance

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of extra funding he announced on 1 September 2016 on the performance of Southern Rail.

Paul Maynard: Network Rail made £20m available from current funding, in order to make improvements on the Southern network. My Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State for Transport announced the appointment of Chris Gibb, in order to oversee the use of this fund and lead a joint board, which also has passenger representation. We continue to be updated on progress and we have both met Mr Gibb recently and he will be providing a full report to me by the end of the year.

M3

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of smart technology easing congestion on the M3 motorway.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the estimated completion date is for the M3 motorway upgrade.

Mr John Hayes: Following studies and pilots of smart motorways on the M42 and a subsequent feasibility study by Highways England, M3 junction 2-4a (currently in construction) and M3 Junctions 9-14 (planned) are sections identified that would benefit from smart technology to ease congestion. Data captured from the M25 Smart Motorway scheme, which opened to traffic in 2014, prove that smart motorways work. Through the use of technology they reduce congestion, improve journey time reliability by smoothing traffic flow - all achieved through using variable speed limits -and provide additional road space to road users by converting the hard shoulder to a live traffic lane. The estimated completion date for the M3 junction 2-4a smart motorway scheme is 30 June 2017. Work on the M3 Junctions 9-14 scheme is expected to start in 2019/20 and be completed in 2021/22.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Qualifications

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training approved Safe Urban Driving module a mandatory part of the lorry driver's Certificate of Professional Competence training.

Andrew Jones: The UK’s Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) scheme was developed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in conjunction with representatives from the freight and logistics sectors to provide flexibility so that drivers and their employers could create training regimes relevant to their own requirements. DVSA agrees that courses which raise awareness of vulnerable road users have an important part to play in improving UK road safety. It has taken steps to promote these courses for all professional drivers and not just drivers of lorries. DVSA has promoted this subject matter as best practice to encourage uptake amongst drivers who regularly work in an urban environment.

Govia Thameslink Railway

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise agreement and remedial plan set out cancellation benchmarks whereas the Office of Road and Rail criteria for Govia Thameslink Railway set out combined cancellations and services late benchmarks.

Paul Maynard: The combined Cancellations and Serious Lateness (CaSL) measure reported by the Office of Rail and Road covers disruption caused across the whole industry, including incidents caused by Network Rail and other train or freight operators. There are separate benchmarks under the franchise agreement and the remedial plan covers cancellations and delays to passengers caused by Govia Thameslink Railway which incentivise the operator to reduce both. This obviates the possibility of an operator playing one measure off against another.

East Anglia Railway Line

Sir Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 17 November 2016, what the timetable is for the improved compensation for delayed rail journeys to be implemented on the Chelmsford to London Liverpool Street line operated by Abellio Greater Anglia.

Paul Maynard: The timetable for the roll out of improved compensation for passengers on the Greater Anglia franchise, including between Chelmsford and London, is subject to discussion with Greater Anglia. These discussions are scheduled to begin in the coming weeks.

Railways: Standards

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the data provided by train operating companies to his Department on the level and cause of cancellations and delays is the same data that has been verified by the Train Running Under System used by Network Rail, the Train Operating Companies and the Office of Rail and Road.

Paul Maynard: The primary source for all industry information about train performance is Train Running Under System TOPS (TRUST) operated by Network Rail. This includes data which is subsequently supplied to the Department by train operators. However, train operators use the TRUST data in their own systems, and have access to additional information which may mean there are minor differences between the raw data from TRUST and the data provided to the Department by operators.

Govia Thameslink Railway

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the data provided by Govia Thameslink Railway, in respect of his Department's assessment of force majeure, on the number of train cancellations will be the same data that has been verified by the Train Running Under System used by Network rail, the train operating companies and the Office of Rail and Road.

Paul Maynard: Yes. The data providing the number of cancellations is derived from the industry system which captures train running data across the industry.

Driving: Licensing

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many driving licences have been revoked under Cassie's law in each year since it was introduced.

Andrew Jones: “Cassie’s Law” is a process that was introduced in February 2013 to allow the police to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) urgently of any driver who fails a roadside number plate eyesight test. This allows the DVLA to revoke the licence of any driver who fails the test almost immediately, helping to quickly remove unsafe drivers from the road. Since the introduction of this process in 2013, 1,034 driving licences have been revoked. The table below shows the figures by year. YearNumber of revocations2013 (Feb – Dec)236201423820152912016 (to present)269

Govia Thameslink Railway

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what independent verification his Department uses to assess the accuracy of information provided by Govia Thameslink Railway to his Department when assessing claims for force majeure.

Paul Maynard: The Department’s team assessing the claim includes resources with specialist knowledge of the industry operations and systems. Additionally, the force majeure guidance mandates that operators provide clear evidence that disruption was as a result of the event in question. The overall assessment is being peer-reviewed internally to provide consistency with industry guidance and any precedents from previous claims. This assessment approach follows previous Department for Transport practice when dealing with force majeure claims.

Freight: Common Customs Tariffs

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effects of the EU's Common External Tariff on the patterns of freight transport in the UK.

Mr John Hayes: The Government has not undertaken a historical analysis of this particular effect. Indeed it would be difficult to separate out the effects of the common customs tariff from the effects of other developments in the economy, such as more complex supply chains and online retail. As part of its preparations for leaving the EU, the Government is considering the full range of implications for transport, including those arising from the customs regime applying after exit.

Govia Thameslink Railway

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consultants have been used to assist his Department's assessment of Govia Thameslink Railway's claims for force majeure; and what the cost of that assessment has been to date.

Paul Maynard: No consultants have been used to assist the Department’s assessment of the claims for force majeure.

Home Office

Forced Marriage Unit

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many cases the Forced Marriage Unit has dealt with since its inception; and how many such cases have been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Sarah Newton: The UK is a world-leader in the fight to stamp out the brutal practice of forced marriage, with our joint Home Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) leading efforts to combat it both at home and abroad. We made forced marriage a criminal offence in 2014 to better protect victims and send a clear message that this abhorrent practice is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated in the UK.Figures on the number of cases reported to the FMU via its public helpline and email inbox are published annually on GOV.uk at:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/forced-marriage#statistics-on-forced-marriage-collected-by-fmuThe FMU acts in an advisory capacity and therefore does not refer cases directly to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The FMU will refer cases to the police. The police will consider when to refer a case to the CPS, who will take a decision as to whether a prosecution should be brought.The recent CPS Violence Against Women and Girls Crime Report, published in September 2016, shows that the volume of forced marriage prosecutions completed in 2015-16 rose to 53 – a rise from 46 in 2014-15.

Heroin

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many doctors are specially licensed to provide pharmaceutical heroin to  addicts in (a) England and Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland.

Sarah Newton: The Home Office has, since April 2011, issued 196 licences to enable Doctors to provide treatment for addicts in England and Wales by prescribing one or more of the following three substances - diamorphine (“pharmaceutical heroin”), dipipanone or cocaine. The cost of providing a breakdown by substance for these 196 licences would be disproportionate. The responsibility for issuing such licences to doctors practising in Scotland is devolved to Scottish Ministers, and in Northern Ireland to the Department of Health - Northern Ireland.

Mobile Phones: Proof of Identity

Amanda Solloway: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory identification checks for people purchasing pay-as-you-go SIM cards to assist in tackling terrorism and crime.

Sarah Newton: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I given to the hon. Member for Twickenham on 7 September 2016, UIN 44233.

Visas: Overseas Students

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the potential financial benefits to universities involved in the introduction of the Tier 4 visa pilot scheme.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Tier 4 visa pilot scheme is designed to test the benefits of a differentiated approach within Tier 4, whilst ensuring any changes do not undermine the robust application of immigration requirements. No estimate has been made of financial benefits to the participating institutions. The results of the pilot will be carefully monitored to determine whether the scheme should be rolled out more widely. We will carefully monitor any impacts and liaise with stakeholders before any further steps are taken.

Asylum: Children

Edward Argar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions Ministers of her Department have had with Leicestershire County Council on the level of central government grant funding required per unaccompanied asylum seeking child to fully cover all costs incurred by that council since the inception of the unaccompanied asylum seeking children scheme.

Edward Argar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions Ministers of her Department have had with Leicestershire County Council on its participation in the unaccompanied asylum seeking children scheme since that council announced its intention to withdraw from that scheme in October 2016.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is committed to a fairer distribution of caring responsibilities across the country in a way that protects the best interests of all children and provides appropriate funding to local authorities for the care of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. We have consulted widely and extensively with local authorities across the UK in order to assess their spending and capacity to care for additional unaccompanied asylum seeking and refugee children. In light of information provided by local authorities, in July the Home Office significantly increased the national rates of funding to local authorities taking responsibility for unaccompanied asylum seeking children and have offered additional funding to bolster regional structures for the National Transfer Scheme. We will keep these arrangements under review, and we encourage all local authorities, including Leicestershire, to continue to work through their respective Regional Strategic Migration Partnerships on participation in the scheme.

South Yorkshire Police

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will list the documents that her Department considered prior to her decision not to pursue an inquiry into alleged South Yorkshire police malpractice at Orgreave in 1984.

Brandon Lewis: The Home Secretary’s decision not to establish an inquiry or independent review into the events at Orgreave Coking Plant was based on a number of factors, including consideration of the key purposes of an inquiry and whether these were met in the case of Orgreave. As part of this consideration, the Home Secretary reviewed a range of relevant documentation.

Refugees: France

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her oral statement on Calais of 24 October 2016, Official Report, columns 64-5, if she will take steps to put in place a new joint agreement with France on tackling (a) people trafficking and (b) violence against refugees in the areas to which refugees have been dispersed since the closure of the Calais camp.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Whilst the protection of people in France remains a matter for the French authorities, the UK is working closely with the French Government to tackle the people smuggling gangs who may seek to bring people illegally to the UK. In August 2015, the then Home Secretary signed a joint declaration on sharing intelligence and bolstering security to tackle organised immigration crime with her French counterpart. Since then, our two countries have worked ever closer to coordinate our law enforcement response to organised immigration crime. More widely, the UK has established the Organised Immigration Taskforce to exploit opportunities at source, in transit countries and in Europe to identify and tackle organised crime groups.

Child Sexual Abuse Independent Panel Inquiry

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has provided guidance to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse on supporting victims of historic child sex abuse in evidence gathering sessions.

Sarah Newton: This is a matter for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

Vetting: EU Nationals

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions the Disclosure and Barring Service used information from the European Criminal Records Information System to make checks on people applying to work with (a) adults and (b) children since 2012.

Sarah Newton: Regardless of the nationality of the applicant, the provision of criminal record information is intended to support an employer’s safer recruitment process. An enhanced check is not a pass or fail assessment. It is the responsibility of a potential employer to ensure that the applicant is suitable to work with adults and children. This may include seeking information from other countries, including EU member states. The Government is constantly seeking ways to support employers in obtaining this information, including how prospective employees can evidence their suitability for employment through the ACRO Criminal Records Office as the UK Central Authority for the European Exchange of Criminal Records.

Refugees

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people who have applied under the statelessness determination procedure have not yet received a decision; and how many such people have waited over (a) six months, (b) a year, (c) two years and (d) three years from their application.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Home Office regularly shares information with UNHCR, relating stateless applications and decisions made. The information provided is published by UNHCR, in regular trend reports, the latest published report by UNHCR on mid year trends June 2015 can be found at link below; http://www.unhcr.org/uk/statistics/unhcrstats/56701b969/mid-year-trends-june-2015.html

Visas: Pakistan

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many visit visa applications from Pakistan for applicants wishing to visit the UK were (a) made, (b) accepted and (c) refused in (i) 2012, (ii) 2013, (iii) 2014 and (iv) 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 12 May 2016 by the Rt. hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (James Brokenshire), UIN 36870.

Places of Worship Security Funding Scheme

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans the second round of bids to open in the Places of worship: security funding scheme; and how much funding she plans to make available (a) in total and (b) for each bid.

Sarah Newton: It is intended that the second round of bids for the Places of Worship Security Funding Scheme will open in April 2017. The scheme is funded at £2.4 million over three years with £800,000 being made available for each year of the scheme.There is no limit on the amount available for each individual bid but bidders are required to meet 20% of the total cost of the security equipment if successful.

Travel Restrictions: Russia

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people known as being members of the Klyuev criminal group have been subject to visa bans to prevent them coming to the UK in each of the last eight years.

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people suspected by UK law enforcement of involvement in organised crime, financial crime or serious human rights abuses have been subject to visa bans to prevent them coming to the UK from Russia in each of the last eight years.

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people suspected by UK law enforcement of involvement in organised crime, financial crime or serious human rights abuses have been subject to visa bans to prevent them coming to the UK in each of the last eight years.

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people of each nationality who were suspected by UK law enforcement of involvement in organised crime, financial crime or serious human rights abuses have been subject to visa bans to prevent them coming to the UK in each of the last eight years.

Mr Ben Wallace: We consider that publishing information on the nationalities of individuals excluded from the UK would risk undermining international relations and foreign policy objectives and consequently do not provide country specific breakdowns. We also do not comment on the number of immigration disruptions that have been put in place against specific groups of individuals.We can however confirm that foreign nationals requiring leave to enter the UK must meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules in the category of entry sought and that, by their own actions, must not have brought themselves within scope of the general grounds for refusal in the Immigration Rules. Evidence that an individual has been involved in organised crime or human rights abuses would be taken into account when a visa application is considered. Individuals will be denied entry to the UK where there is evidence to show that their presence would not be considered conducive to the public good.

Immigrants: Detainees

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people are held in immigration detention who have been detained for (a) less than three months, (b) between three months and one year, (c) between one year and three years and (d) for more than three years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The information requested is published in table dt_11_q (detention data tables) in ‘Immigration Statistics, April - June 2016’, available from the Home Office website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/546763/detention-q2-2016-tabs.ods

Immigration Enforcement Directorate

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation is taking place to prepare her Department's Immigration and Enforcement Business Plan 2016-17.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Internal consultation has taken place on Immigration and Enforcement’s 2016/17 business plan and it will be published in due course. External consultation does not routinely take place on the business plan document.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Industry

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential role of the part-time higher education sector in delivering his Department's industrial strategy.

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to consult with representatives of the higher education sector as part of his Department's preparations for the development and delivery of its industrial strategy.

Mr Nick Hurd: Holding answer received on 14 November 2016



Higher education has a key role to play in industrial strategy. A high productivity, high wage economy that works for all depends on our workforce having access to the skills they need. We will be seeking views on Industrial Strategy, including from Higher education stakeholders, through a discussion paper to be published shortly.

Trade Agreements

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his policy not to include provision such as subsidy arrangements or preferential treatment arrangements in his industrial strategy; and to rescind such provision for negotiations of free trade agreements.

Mr Nick Hurd: Our industrial strategy will focus on driving improved growth and productivity across the UK economy.The strategy will support and encourage companies to trade internationally, and create a business environment that will attract overseas investors to locate for the long term, and keep the UK one of the best and most competitive places in the world to invest and export.We will set out our plans to deliver the best international trading framework for the UK in due course.

Heathrow Airport

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Heathrow Airport expansion on the Government's industrial strategy.

Jesse Norman: Holding answer received on 16 November 2016



High quality infrastructure is essential for a successful industrial strategy. Through support for Heathrow, the Government is taking decisive action to secure the UK’s place in the global aviation market by building strong connections with global partners securing jobs and business opportunities for the next decade and beyond. This is a further step in a series of major infrastructure investment decisions.

Heathrow Airport

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of Heathrow Airport expansion on the British steel industry.

Jesse Norman: Holding answer received on 16 November 2016



We welcome Heathrow’s commitment to ensuring that UK suppliers for steel can access tender opportunities, and its adoption of government's steel procurement guidance. Heathrow estimates it will need 370,000 tonnes of steel to build its new terminals, equivalent to building 30 Shards. A new runway at Heathrow will be a major boost for the UK economy, and underlines that this government is taking action to secure the UK’s place in the global aviation market. This will secure jobs and business opportunities for the next decade and beyond.

Energy: Prices

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support his Department provides to energy-intensive users in the manufacturing and engineering sectors.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Government has put in place a range of measures to support energy intensive industries (EIIs). This includes a package of compensation and exemption measures to alleviate the impact of renewable and low carbon policy costs passed through in electricity bills. By 2020, this package will reduce the impact of policies on the most energy intensive businesses’ energy bills by 80%.Since 2014 the Government has exempted mineralogical and metallurgical processes from the Climate Change Levy (CCL) which is an energy consumption tax and other EIIs receive a significant discount from the CCL in exchange for signing up to energy efficiency or carbon reduction targets through Climate Change Agreements. Energy intensive sectors subject to the EU Emissions Trading System are allocated allowances for free to protect against the risk of carbon leakage. The Government is also working in collaboration with eight energy intensive sectors to develop action plans to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation measures while improving competitiveness.

Companies: Ownership

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate the issues created by nominee directors and nominee shareholders on the registers of beneficial ownership.

Margot James: The register of people with significant control requires companies to register individuals who meet one of 5 conditions with relation to a company to be recorded on the company’s PSC register and that information must be provided to Companies House when the company completes its confirmation statement (formerly the annual return). The conditions for being a PSC are: i. Directly or indirectly holding more than 25% of the shares,ii. Directly or indirectly holding more than 25% of the voting rights,iii. Directly or indirectly holding the right to appoint or remove a majority of directors,iv. Otherwise having the right to exercise, or actually exercising, significant influence or control,v. Having the right to exercise, or actually exercising, significant influence or control over the activities of a trust or firm which is not a legal entity, but would itself satisfy any of the first four conditions if it were an individual. Anyone who meets these conditions for a company is a PSC. Schedule 1A to the Companies Act 2006 provides for situations where someone may knowingly or otherwise structure their company to avoid these requirements. This includes provisions for the treatment of nominees with regards to the PSC register. This states that nominees should not be included in the register and any shares they hold should be treated as being held by the person that the nominee is holding on behalf of.

Bereavement Leave

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to establish bereavement leave as a statutory employment right.

Margot James: We are exploring options for supporting bereaved parents in employment. The death of a child is traumatic and deeply upsetting for any parent, so it is easy to see why some time away from work may be needed.

Electricity Generation

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of the Ofgem review of Embedded Benefit grid charges on energy intensive industries and the pace of roll-out of energy storage technologies in the UK.

Mr Nick Hurd: Holding answer received on 21 November 2016



Network charging is a matter for Ofgem, as the independent regulator, and it is leading the review of embedded benefits related to Transmission Network Use of System charges. Proposals for changing the embedded benefits regime are currently being progressed through an open industry process, and it is likely that Ofgem will undertake a further consultation and impact assessment in early 2017. It will make a decision on its approach to consultation and assessment when it receives the final modification report. We will engage with Ofgem as part of its assessment process to ensure that Government policy interests are taken into account, including aspects such as the potential effect of reducing the level of embedded benefits on household and business electricity costs (including energy intensive industries) and energy storage.

Solar Power: Schools

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many solar panels are installed on (a) state, (b) voluntary-aided and (c) privately-funded schools in England.

Jesse Norman: We do not hold information on the number of solar panels on different types of school.

Housing: Construction

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Government's policies on house building bring greater benefits to UK brick manufacturers than to overseas competitors.

Margot James: The Government is determined to boost house building in the UK. In order to meet our ambitions, we need a bigger and more diverse market of all types of building methods and materials, greater productivity and innovation. Increased house building will mean increased business for the construction supply chain and UK brick production has increased by nearly 35% since 2010. We are working with the Construction Leadership Council to ensure UK businesses, including brick manufacturers, can make the most of these opportunities.

Post Offices

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has had discussions with Post Office officials on locating current and future post offices on non-ground floor premises.

Margot James: The provision and location of post offices is the operational responsibility of the Post Office. The Department does not play a role in operational decisions which are for the businesses to take. Prior to any post office relocation, the Post Office conducts a six week local consultation before making any final decision. This is to let customers and interested stakeholders know the detail of its proposal and to seek feedback. Post Office ensures that all of its agency and franchise branches are aware of the requirements and importance if the Equality Act 2010. The Post Offices approach to accessibility is endorsed by Disability Rights UK.

Shell: North Sea

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of Shell's sale of its North Sea field assets on the long-term future of the North Sea as an energy asset.

Jesse Norman: No such assessment has been made. The Oil and Gas Authority will assess any licence transfer as the licensing authority.

Social Services: Living Wage

David Mackintosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the political implications for its policies of the findings of the Learning Disability Voices report on the effect of the application of the National Living Wage on sleep-in shifts.

Margot James: The Government believes that workers should be paid NMW if what they are doing amounts to work under the contract. In cases where the workers must be present at their place of work, and are in effect working even if their boss allows them to sleep rather than carry out other activities, the workers should get paid the NMW. The Government has published guidance to help employers meet national minimum wage legislation. The calculating the minimum wage document sets out on page 29 the guidance relating to National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) and sleeping time.

Shipping: Minimum Wage

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what representations he has received from (a) individual shipping companies, (b) the UK Chamber of Shipping, (c) maritime trades unions and (d) the TUC on National Minimum Wage enforcement for seafarers since July 2016.

Margot James: Since July 2016, my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has not received any representations from the organisations referenced above on the subject of minimum wage enforcement for seafarers.

Post Offices: WH Smith

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of customer service standards at (a) Crown post offices and (b) post offices which have been franchised to WHSmith.

Margot James: We understand that branches operated by WHSmith are providing good ongoing levels of customer service. The operation of post offices is the responsibility of Post Office Limited.I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member on this matter and provide the information requested. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: WH Smith

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the average number of dedicated foreign currency counter positions there are at (a) Crown post offices and (b) post offices which have been franchised to WHSmith.

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the average waiting time for customers at (a) Crown post offices and (b) post offices which have been franchised to WHSmith.

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Deportment holds on the average number of counter positions at each (a) Crown post office and (b) post office which has been franchised to WHSmith.

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much has been spent by the Post Office since January 2014 on refurbishing the premises of franchise partners taking on Crown post offices.

Margot James: The operation and franchising of its Crown post offices is the responsibility of Post Office Limited. I have asked Paula Vennells, the Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the Hon Member on this matter and provide the information requested. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of exceeding the Levy Control Framework's forecasted costs each year to 2020-21 on consumer energy bills.

Jesse Norman: The latest projections for the Levy Control Framework (LCF), published by the Office of Budget Responsibility in March 2016, show that while LCF future spending is forecast to exceed the budget cap to 2020/21, it remains within the 20% headroom agreed with the Treasury in all years.The Department keeps the impact of LCF projected spending on consumer bills under review.Updated projections for the LCF will be published by Office of Budget Responsibility alongside the Autumn Statement.

Energy: Coventry

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the average proportion of household expenditure on energy bills was in (a) Coventry and (b) Coventry North East constituency in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jesse Norman: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Liverpool City Region

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies in the Liverpool City Region on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wages Foundation; and how many such people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

Margot James: There are no people working directly for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the Liverpool City Region.Of the BEIS Executive Agencies; the Met Office, Companies House, the Intellectual Property Office and the UK Space Agency have no staff working in the Liverpool City Region.The Insolvency Service do have staff working in the Liverpool City Region, but none are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation, and none are on zero hours contracts.

Small Businesses: Billing

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to bring forward new measures to reduce the frequency of late payments to small businesses.

Margot James: The government is already taking forward a number of measures to tackle late payment.In April 2017, the payment practices reporting requirement will come into force. This will require large companies and large LLPs to report publically on their payment practices and performance, twice per financial year.Also in 2017, we will be appointing the Small Business Commissioner, who will support small businesses in resolving payment disputes.We continue to promote the voluntary, industry-led Prompt Payment Code. More than 1,800 firms are signed up to the Code, with each committing to pay suppliers within a maximum of 60 days, with the aim of 30 days as the norm. To date 27 of Government’s 33 strategic suppliers have signed up.Public sector buyers (other than devolved bodies) are required to have 30-day payment terms in their new contracts and through their supply chains. Public sector buyers are required to publish annual data on their payment performance.We also strongly encourage businesses to report poor payment practice and instances of late payment in public sector contracts to the Government’s Mystery Shopper service.

Shipping: Minimum Wage

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to update the section on enforcement on behalf of seafarers in section 3.9 of his Department's Policy on HM Revenue and Customs' enforcement, prosecutions and naming employers who break national minimum wage law, published in July 2016.

Margot James: In collaboration with the Department for Transport and maritime stakeholders, we have been developing more detailed guidance on minimum wage law with respect to seafarers, which will be published in due course.

Shipping: Minimum Wage

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to section 3.9 of his Department's publication, Policy on HM Revenue and Customs' enforcement, prosecutions and naming employers who break national minimum wage law, whether that section remains his policy on national minimum wage enforcement for seafarers.

Margot James: Section 3.9 of the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage enforcement policy document is accurate as a general statement on the interaction between UK domestic law and international conventions and customs. However, there are some circumstances under which seafarers on non-UK flagged vessels operating in UK territorial waters might be eligible for the national minimum wage. In collaboration with the Department for Transport and maritime stakeholders, we have been developing more detailed guidance on minimum wage law with respect to seafarers working on both UK and non-UK flagged ships, which will be published in due course.

Electricity Generation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment the Government has made of the most suitable fuel to be used for black starts to restore power after a power cut in the event that coal ceases to be used for electricity generation; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: National Grid, under its Transmission Licence, is responsible for determining a GB wide strategy for restoring electricity supplies in the event of the technical failure of the National Electricity Transmission System. This includes assessing the suitability of different technologies.

Energy: Prices

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to bring forward proposals for a cap on standard energy tariffs.

Jesse Norman: The introduction of a price cap for customers on pre-payment meters was a recommendation of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report. The Government is currently considering their recommendations of the CMA report and will respond soon.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Pay

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what proportion of women are employed by his Department on an outer London pay structure in the following pay grades (a) Administrative Assistant, (b) Administrative Officer, (c) Executive Officer, (d) Higher Executive Officer, (e) Fast Streamer, (f) Senior Executive Officer, (g) Grade Seven, (h) Grade Six, (i) Senior Civil Service Band 1, (j) Senior Civil Service Band 1A, (k) Senior Civil Service Band 2 and (l) Senior Civil Service Band 3.

Sir Alan Duncan: There is only one (male) member of SCS staff on an outer London pay structure.When considered against the total number of FCO UK-based staff in each grade, the proportion of women on an outer London pay structure was as follows:AA66.7%AO69.4%EO65.3%HEO/Fast stream56.0%SEO34.8%Grade 714.7%Grade 616.7%SCS10.0%

Nuclear Disarmament

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the combatibility of the UN negotiations to ban nuclear weapons with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK Government firmly believes that the best way to achieve a world without nuclear weapons is through gradual multilateral disarmament negotiated using a step by step approach and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Egypt: Demonstrations

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports his Department has received on the demonstrations over economic policy proposals in Egypt on 11 November 2016.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Having been made aware of calls on social media for demonstrations, officials at the British Embassy in Cairo monitored the situation in the run-up to, and during, 11 November. There were reports of several small-scale demonstrations in some areas of Egypt and of several hundred individuals being arrested for participating in, or planning, protests.

Guyana: Venezuela

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in Guyana and Venezuela on the steps they are taking to resolve the border dispute between those two countries; and if he will make a statement.

Sir Alan Duncan: I refer the hon. Member to my answer given on 21 November in response to written question 52681.

Roya Nobakht

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he has made representations to his Iranian counterpart on the detention of Roya Saberinejad Nobakht.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Since April 2014, when we were made aware of her arrest, Ministers and officials have raised Mrs Nobakht's case repeatedly and at all levels with the Iranian government. Most recently, The Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) raised Mrs Nobakht's case with Iranian President Rouhani in person on 20 September, and followed up by letter on 3 October. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Johnson), raised Mrs Nobakht's case with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif on 22 September. We will continue to raise Mrs Nobakht's case with the Iranian Government at every available opportunity.

Ilois: Finance

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 16 November 2016, Update on the British Indian Ocean Territory, HCWS260, on what evidence or needs analysis his Department established the appropriateness of the sum of £40 million to support the Chagossian community.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government is aware, through consultations with Chagossian leaders and the wider Chagossian communities, of the difficulties that many Chagossians face in their daily lives, including securing adequate health and social care, and education and employment opportunities. We are also aware of the importance of facilitating an increased heritage visit programme for Chagossians. The support package of approximately £40 million is based on these consultations and aims to address these areas. The package will now be worked up fully in discussion with the Chagossian community and are those who have an interest.

British Indian Ocean Territory: Planning Permission

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, under what circumstances the Government would permit private infrastructure or residential development in the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Sir Alan Duncan: No development would be permitted. ( The Government considers resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory to be unrealistic. It has decided that it is not in the public interest to create a small new civilian settlement on these remote and low lying islands.)

Andargachew Tsege

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if his Department will make representations to the Ethiopian government on facilitating phone calls between Andargachew Tsege and his family in the UK.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As part of our ongoing consular support to Mr Tsege, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made representations to the Ethiopian Government requesting that he be given access to a telephone.

India: Foreign Relations

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the strength of diplomatic and economic relations between India and the UK.

Alok Sharma: As the Prime Minister, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) noted when she visited India, this relationship matters more than ever. The UK shares a longstanding, broad and deep friendship with India, covering economic and commercial ties, defence and security, and people-to-people links.

Russia: Baltic States

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Russian counterparts on the sovereignty of the Baltic States.

Sir Alan Duncan: The sovereignty of the Baltic States is beyond dispute. The renewed deterrence and defence posture, agreed at the Warsaw NATO Summit, sends a clear, unambiguous message of the continued commitment of all NATO members to the principles of collective defence and security and Article 5.

USA: Syria

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the incoming US administration on its policy on the conflict in Syria.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Throughout the election, our Embassy in Washington engaged with the Republican and Democratic campaigns and those who might be part of the new Administration on the breadth of our policy interests. Now that the election has concluded, those conversations are intensifying with President-elect Trump’s transition team and with those who may potentially be chosen for senior jobs.

Cyprus: Politics and Government

Martin Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress of recent talks on the future of Cyprus.

Sir Alan Duncan: There has never been a better opportunity to reunify Cyprus. With continued courage and compromise on both sides, an historic deal is achievable. The UK will continue to support efforts to secure a just and lasting settlement.

USA: NATO

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the incoming US administration on its policy on Article 5 of the NATO treaty.

Sir Alan Duncan: Throughout the election period, our Embassy in Washington engaged both campaigns across the breadth of our policy interests, including NATO.

Cabinet Office

Main Honours Advisory Committee

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost of the Main Honours Advisory Committee has been in each of the last six years.

Ben Gummer: The costs associated with the Main Honours Committee are included within centrally-aggregated departmental administrative contracts.

Business Appointments Advisory Committee

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments has been in each of the last six years.

Ben Gummer: The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments' costs are set out in its annual reports, which are available on the Committee's website at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/advisory-committee-on-business-appointments/about

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Drew Hendry: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what performance data the Crown Commercial Services (a) collects and (b) recommends be collected from public sector fleet operators in relation to the Government's air quality targets.

Ben Gummer: The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) does not routinely collect data from public sector fleet operators in relation to the Government's air quality targets. It does, however, capture data from suppliers relating to fuel types and CO2 Emissions.The CCS Call Off contract template for Vehicle Purchase and Vehicle Lease and Fleet Management allow departments to specify the provision of this type of information from their appointed suppliers, but there is no specific data set that is recommended.The CCS Vehicle Telematics framework enables organisations to manage their fleets more effectively by improving safety and efficiency through the use of telematics technology by monitoring things like fuel consumption, vehicle tracking and driver behaviour.

Electronic Government

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many reports of misleading websites have been made to the webpage www.gov.uk/misleadingwebsites; how many different websites have been the subject of such reports; and what steps the Government has taken as a result of such reports.

Ben Gummer: GOV.UK provides a single ‘front page’ through which users can report misleading websites - however, users are linked through to Action Fraud and Google to make the reports themselves. GOV.UK is just one of many sources of referral to these sources.For government action on misleading websites, I refer the honourable gentleman to my previous answer to PQ52413.

Government Departments: Apprentices

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2016 to Question 49829, what the timetable is for the data to become available on the number of apprentices given permanent positions in the Civil Service.

Ben Gummer: The Minister for the Cabinet Office will publish apprenticeship data in line with the requirements set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 and relevant regulations, which are intended to come into force in April 2017.

Cybercrime: Elections

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has made an assessment of the level of potential risk of cyber interference by foreign governments in elections in the UK.

Ben Gummer: We treat Cyber Security extremely seriously. Our 2015 National Security Strategy confirmed that cyber remains a top threat to the UK’s economic and national security. The threat posed by cyber-attacks continues to grow in both scale and complexity. Cyber security is crucial for keeping the UK safe.To meet the challenges of cyber security threats, the government launched its new National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021 on the 1 November. Supported by £1.9billion of transformational investment, the strategy sets out ambitious policies and capabilities to protect the UK in cyber space.The strategy is available online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cyber- security-strategy- 2016-to-2021.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many working days were lost due to mental illness in her Department in each of the last three years.

Rory Stewart: The number of notified days lost within DFID due to mental illness in each of the last 3 years is detailed in the table below. PeriodTotal Sick (Days Lost) to Mental Disorders1 November 2013 – 31 October 201415221 November 2014 – 31 October 201517321 November 2015 – 31 October 20161594

Burma: Internally Displaced People

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in Burma on the suicide rates of internally displaced people in camps in that country.

Rory Stewart: DFID discusses issues affecting internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burma with the Burmese authorities on a regular basis. The issue of suicides has not been raised with us as a concern in camps in Burma although we take the welfare of IDPs extremely seriously.

Malawi: Crops

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions her Department has had with the government of Malawi on growing alternative crops other than tobacco such as (a) tea and (b) maize.

James Wharton: The UK has regular discussions with the Government of Malawi on the reforms needed to diversify Malawi’s agricultural base. During my recent visit to Malawi, I urged the Malawian Government to make progress on the policy environment for agribusiness, and particularly emphasised the need for reform to maize markets.The UK provides particular support to the expansion of oilseeds and rice as alternative crops. Through the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund we also support a tea business, and through AgDevCo we invest in groundnuts, sugar, paprika/chillies and macadamia nuts.

EU Aid

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her policy is on the future reallocation of UK aid currently spent through the EU.

Rory Stewart: I refer my Rt Hon. Friend to the answer that I gave my Hon. Friend, the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth on 15 September 2016.

Developing Countries: Education

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department achieves value for money in its investment in education.

James Wharton: For all bilateral education investments, we have developed a range of value for money metrics which track key cost drivers. Where applicable, we use a ‘Payment By Results’ approach which means that programmes such as the Girls’ Education Challenge must demonstrate significant learning improvements for its beneficiaries in order to receive full funding.Alongside this, our funding for research projects is building up an evidence base of ‘what works’ to help guarantee that DFID education investments are smart and well-targeted. Scrutiny from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact also ensures that all DFID education investments are as economic, efficient and cost-effective as possible.In line with our UK Aid Strategy, we have reviewed all existing spending and have ended projects which are not delivering value for money.

Developing Countries: Teachers

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department supports the recruitment of more teachers in its aid projects.

James Wharton: There is a global teacher shortage; at least 74 countries face an acute shortage of teachers. In the period 2011 – 2015 we helped to train 380,000 teachers and improve the effectiveness of teacher development.In addition, through our £300 million support to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), we assist 65 developing countries to develop education sector plans to get trained teachers into classrooms, where they are most needed.

Iraq: Reconstruction

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what plans her Department has to allocate funds for the rebuilding of Mosul once the city has been liberated from ISIS.

Rory Stewart: As a member of the global coalition against Daesh, the UK is supporting the Iraqi authorities and the United Nations as they develop stabilisation planning for Mosul and Nineweh governorate. The UK is already providing over £15 million to support UN stabilisation programmes. This is helping secure liberated areas, clear Daesh explosives and support the renovation of water facilities, power networks, clinics and schools. It is also helping the Governor of Ninevah’s office assess post-liberation needs and priorities, including where to pre-position kit for repairs to infrastructure.

Visits Abroad: Africa

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent visits ministers of her Department have made to Africa with ministers of the Department of International Trade.

James Wharton: Travel plans for the New Year are currently being developed and consideration will be given to joint visits. No such visits have taklen place to Africa in recent months.

Occupied Territories: Demolition

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2016 to Question 907180, on occupied territories: demolition, how many structures built with some financial assistance from the UK have been demolished by the Israeli government; and how much UK funding was provided for those structures.

Rory Stewart: As the answer to Question 907180 states, no structures directly funded by the UK have been demolished. Since 2009 approximately 180 structures funded by the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Office (ECHO) have been demolished or confiscated. The UK regularly raises its concerns about demolitions with the Government of Israel.

Somalia: Droughts

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assistance her Department is giving to the regions of Somaliland and Somalia experiencing drought.

James Wharton: DFID has provided emergency cash transfers to more than 12,000 households and vaccinated three million livestock. We are currently providing 16,000 households with food, child nutrition support, access to health care, clean water and shelter. Our most recent funding, released this month, will provide cash to a further 6,500 households and nutrition and water for a further 50,000 people.We are closely monitoring the effects of the drought, and matching our own substantial contribution with a campaign to encourage other international partners to step up and do more.

Department for Education

Free Schools

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) business-led, (b) Muslim-led, (c) Church of England-led, (d) Roman Catholic-led schools, (e) other faith schools and (f) other free schools have been announced in each year since the free school programme started.

Edward Timpson: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 01 November 2016.The correct answer should have been:

Free school applicants are invited to describe the nature of their group; most will describe the group in terms of the schools they already have, for example, a multi-academy trust or a chain of free schools. Some groups will use terms such as a group of parents or teachers.There are a number of free schools that have strong business links but only the Cathedral Free School in Liverpool has described itself as business-led.As faith free school applicants may use a variety of terms to describe their group, the table below provides a breakdown of applications approved into the pre-opening phase by the faith designation of the school (b)-(d), with (e) being applications approved into the pre-opening phase with no faith designation. “Other faith designations” includes Christian schools where the denomination has not been specified. Muslim faith DesignationChurch of England faith DesignationRoman Catholic faith designationOther faith designationsOther free schools2010 (Wave 1)1103 4192011 (Waves 1 and 2)1317 6612012 (Wave 3)32113852013 (Wave 4)6008892014 (Waves 5, 6 and 7)02011722015 (Waves 8, 9, and free school presumptions)3007632016 (Waves 10, 11, and free school presumptions)3606143 Not all applications approved into the pre-opening phase go on to open as schools. Some projects are deferred, withdrawn or cancelled, and some schools have closed. Deferral or cancellation can be for a variety and sometimes a combination of reasons, but overall it will have been because the department did not believe the free school trust was ready to open a free school offering a good or better education.Contributory factors include a lack of site or building, insufficient pupil recruitment, under-developed leadership and/or governance arrangements. In each case, decisions will have been based on the progress of the project or school, and will have balanced the risk of opening on the original date, or remaining open, against all the elements needed to be in place for a successful school.In the case of open free schools, they will have closed because they were not delivering a good or better education.

Edward Timpson: Free school applicants are invited to describe the nature of their group; most will describe the group in terms of the schools they already have, for example, a multi-academy trust or a chain of free schools. Some groups will use terms such as a group of parents or teachers.There are a number of free schools that have strong business links but only the Cathedral Free School in Liverpool has described itself as business-led.As faith free school applicants may use a variety of terms to describe their group, the table below provides a breakdown of applications approved into the pre-opening phase by the faith designation of the school (b)-(d), with (e) being applications approved into the pre-opening phase with no faith designation. “Other faith designations” includes Christian schools where the denomination has not been specified. Muslim faith DesignationChurch of England faith DesignationRoman Catholic faith designationOther faith designationsOther free schools2010 (Wave 1)1103 4192011 (Waves 1 and 2)1317 6612012 (Wave 3)32113852013 (Wave 4)6008892014 (Waves 5, 6 and 7)02011722015 (Waves 8, 9, and free school presumptions)3007632016 (Waves 10, 11, and free school presumptions)3606143 Not all applications approved into the pre-opening phase go on to open as schools. Some projects are deferred, withdrawn or cancelled, and some schools have closed. Deferral or cancellation can be for a variety and sometimes a combination of reasons, but overall it will have been because the department did not believe the free school trust was ready to open a free school offering a good or better education.Contributory factors include a lack of site or building, insufficient pupil recruitment, under-developed leadership and/or governance arrangements. In each case, decisions will have been based on the progress of the project or school, and will have balanced the risk of opening on the original date, or remaining open, against all the elements needed to be in place for a successful school.In the case of open free schools, they will have closed because they were not delivering a good or better education.

GCSE

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of children obtained five or more GCSEs including mathematics and English at Grade A* to C at (a) non-selective schools in selective areas and (b) comprehensive schools in the latest year for which data is available.

Nick Gibb: The Government’s main measures of secondary school performance are now Progress 8, Attainment 8, Ebacc achievement and entry and pupils achieving a Good Pass in Maths and English. Progress 8 will be used to identify schools beneath the floor. The latest statistics are available in the ‘GCSE and equivalent results: 2015 to 2016 (provisional) in England’ National Statistics release[1]. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gcse-and-equivalent-results-2015-to-2016-provisional

Pupils: Personal Records

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2016 to Question 48635, on pupils: personal records, whether any Home Office requests for information to the National Pupil Database were (a) made and (b) granted between April 2012 and July 2015 for the purpose of immigration control.

Nick Gibb: The National Pupil Database (NPD) is information the Department for Education (DfE) holds on pupils attending schools in England. This includes information collected in the School Census and attainment data from awarding organisations. Where the police or Home Office have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or evidence of criminal activity, limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the National Pupil Database. It is right that we share this data if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime. The basis for sharing information is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding between the two Departments.

Pupils: Personal Records

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 October 2016 to Question 48635, how many of the 520 records sent to the Home Office by her Department related to (a) pupils and (b) parents of pupils; how many of those records related to requests where the (i) Home Office had lost contact with the child giving rise to concerns of their wellbeing and (ii) information being requested was for immigration control enforcement purposes; if she will detail the reasons why 1,942 of the 2,462 requests were not returned; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: All 520 records sent to the Home Office were related to pupils. Where the police or Home Office have clear evidence that a child may be at risk or evidence of criminal activity, limited data including a pupil’s address and school details may be requested from the National Pupil Database. It is right that we share this data if it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime. The basis for sharing information is set out in a Memorandum of Understanding between the two Departments. The reason that 1,942 of the 2,462 requests were not returned is that DfE could not find a match within the NPD for those records.

Faith Schools

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policy on faith schools of (a) the Populus Poll commissioned by the Accord Coalition, published on 2 November 2016 and (b) the 2011 research paper entitled Faith Primary Schools: Better Schools or Better Pupils, written by Steve Gibbons and Olmo Silva.

Caroline Dinenage: Parents want good schools for their children and we know the vast majority of faith schools provide a high standard of education. The department wants to increase the number of good school places available, including at faith schools, and that’s why we are consulting on the proposals in “Schools that work for everyone” consultation document. We will consider evidence submitted alongside responses to the consultation.The consultation document is available at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/school-frameworks/schools-that-work-for-everyone

Children: Day Care

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how often she plans to review the per hour funding allocated to providers as part of the 30 hours free childcare entitlement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government committed, following the 2015 Spending Review, to invest £1 billion of additional funding per year in the early years free entitlements, including £300 million per year to increase national average funding rates. The hourly funding rate for each local authority to deliver 30 hours of childcare will be decided by the final early years national funding formula. The hourly funding rate for individual childcare providers will then be set annually by each local authority, following consultation with providers in their area. The department is developing plans to monitor the implementation of 30 hours of childcare once it is in ‘steady state’ following the full rollout of the scheme from September 2017. We have been clear that getting the funding right is critical to successful delivery of this new entitlement.

Children: Day Care

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children are receiving 30 hours of free childcare under the pilot of that policy.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the pilot of the 30 hours free childcare entitlement.

Caroline Dinenage: 8 local authorities started delivering the 30 hours childcare entitlement in September 2016, providing invaluable learning ahead of full rollout in September 2017. Over 3,600 children have already accessed an extended entitlement place and we expect this to rise to around 5,000 children over the course of the pilot.The Department has since commissioned an independent evaluation of early implementation of the extended entitlement. This evaluation will focus on generating learning that can be used by Early Implementers and all local authorities ahead of national rollout.Learning from the early implementers will be shared throughout the year. There will be a national findings event in the spring next year, and a formal evaluation report will be published next summer.

Teachers: Veterans

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people have qualified as teachers on the Troops to Teachers scheme since that scheme began.

Nick Gibb: Two cohorts of Troops to Teachers trainees have completed the programme. 29 trainees from cohort 1 qualified as teachers, and 40 trainees from cohort 2 qualified as teachers. In addition, 51 trainees were recruited for cohort 3 in September 2015 and a further 100 for cohort 4 in September 2016.

Children: Day Care

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanism her Department uses to monitor the number of reportable incidents recorded in (a) nurseries and (b) other non-domestic childcare settings across local authorities in England.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what mechanism her Department uses to monitor the number of nursery workers referred to local authorities for responsible incidents; and how many such referrals there have been in each year since 2010-11.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department for Education does not monitor the number of nursery workers referred to local authorities or the number of incidents. Ofsted considers notifications of serious incidents to determine whether or not the provider remains suitable for registration but it does not aggregate the total number of incidents. All nurseries and pre-schools have a responsibility to keep children safe. Ofsted is responsible for ensuring that the safeguarding requirements set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework are adhered to by early years providers across England. If providers have concerns about children’s safety or welfare they must notify agencies with statutory responsibility without delay. It is a requirement for an employee in each setting to be trained in paediatric first aid. We are due to publish a revised EYFS in 2017, which will strengthen existing paediatric first aid requirements. Anyone who has any concerns should report them immediately to Ofsted. The EYFS is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2

Pre-school Education: Inspections

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what budget was allocated to Ofsted's inspection team for early years settings in each year since 2010-11.

Caroline Dinenage: Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the inspection and regulation of services for children and learners. Ofsted publishes an annual report and accounts for Parliament, as required by the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000, in which Ofsted’s spend across its various remits is set out, including the cost of regulation and inspection of early years and childcare providers. The accounts for the requested years can be viewed from the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsted-annual-report-and-accountshttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/office-for-standards-in-education-childrens-services-and-skills-annual-report-and-accounts-2012-to-2013 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/office-for-standards-in-education-childrens-services-and-skills-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-to-2012 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/office-for-standards-in-education-childrens-services-and-skills-annual-report-and-accounts-2010-to-2011

Department for Education: Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many working days were lost due to mental illness in her Department in each of the last three years.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested is set out in the table below. YearWorking days lost due to mental health absence 2013/145331 2014/156073 2015/164712   Sickness absence relating to mental health includes those recorded as anxiety and depression, mental health issues, and stress.

Faith Schools: Oldham

Jim McMahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2016 to Question 52486, what estimate she has made of the number of independent faith schools in Oldham; and what steps her Department is taking to encourage community cohesion and integration in such schools.

Caroline Dinenage: There are four independent faith schools in Oldham.In relation to encouraging community cohesion and integration in such schools, I refer to my previous Answer (52486); the position is the same for all independent schools.

Rock Ferry School

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for a decision to be taken on the future of the Rock Ferry High School site.

Nick Gibb: School playing fields are protected by Section 77 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Schools and local authorities must obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before they can dispose of their land. Applications to dispose of school playing fields are considered by the school playing fields advisory panel, and are approved only when it is demonstrated that the application meets published criteria. I am aware of an application by Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council to seek approval to dispose of part of the playing fields at the closed Rock Ferry High School. The application is currently being processed by officials at the Education Funding Agency, who have sought further detail from the council about the proposal. The application can only be considered when sufficient information is available to enable the panel and the Secretary of State to assess where the capital receipt of the sale of the land will be spent and whether a local Residents’ Association will manage the remaining field for local use. The Secretary of State will consider the recommendation of the panel before making her final decision.

Pre-school Education

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will set a publication date for the Early Years Workforce strategy.

Caroline Dinenage: We want to continue to attract and retain good quality staff to deliver good quality early years provision and the Government has committed to developing a workforce strategy to help employers to do this.We are currently consulting on the English and mathematics knowledge, skills and qualification requirements for level 3 early years educator staff. We want the workforce strategy to reflect the government response to this consultation which closes on 28th November. We have already received a high volume of replies and it will take time to analyse and consider those responses. Development of the early years workforce strategy is a priority and we will publish as soon as possible.

Pre-school Education

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans for the Early Years Workforce Strategy to be published.

Caroline Dinenage: We want to continue to attract and retain good quality staff to deliver good quality early years provision and the Government has committed to developing a workforce strategy to help employers to do this.We are currently consulting on the English and mathematics knowledge, skills and qualification requirements for level 3 early years educator staff. We want the workforce strategy to reflect the government response to this consultation which closes on 28th November. We have already received a high volume of replies and it will take time to analyse and consider those responses. Development of the early years workforce strategy is a priority and we will publish as soon as possible.

Children: Day Care

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether additional support will be available for providers who are negatively financially impacted as a result of the introduction of 30 hours of free childcare policy.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is committed to extending the entitlement to childcare from 15 to 30 hours a week for working parents of three- and four-year-olds. We are clear that we need to get the funding right to ensure that providers are funded on a fair and sustainable basis. We will be investing over £1billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two-, three- and four-year-old entitlements. Our recent consultation set out proposals to allocate our record level of funding fairly and transparently, with the maximum amount reaching providers. We will publish our response shortly.

Children: Day Care

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that providers receive the adequate level of funding to deliver the 30 hours of free childcare policy.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government will be investing over £1billion more per year by 2019-20 to fund our commitments on the early years entitlements – this includes £300 million per year from 2017-18 for a significant increase to the hourly rate paid for the two-, three- and four-year-old entitlements. It is vital that funding for these entitlements is fairly distributed between different parts of the country and different types of providers, so that they can deliver both the existing 15-hour entitlement and the extended 30-hour entitlement for working parents, on a sustainable basis. That is why we have recently consulted on our proposals for a national funding formula for the early years. Under our proposals, 75% of local authorities would have higher funding rates, and providers in the vast majority of local authorities can expect to gain funding, as maximum funding is passed through to the frontline. We are currently considering all responses to the consultation, and are planning to publish the government’s response shortly.

Department for Education: Procurement

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times her Department has (a) terminated a contract, (b) imposed a penalty and (c) denied permission for a company to tender on the grounds of grave professional misconduct since November 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Young People: Unemployment

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department's budget allocation was for reducing the number of young people who were classed as not in employment, education or training in each year since 2011-12.

Edward Timpson: We want to ensure that everyone has access to high-quality education and training, which is why we are spending around £7billion on education and training for 16 to 19-year-olds this year. All of this funding helps to reduce the number of young people who are classified as not in education, employment or training (NEET) by ensuring there are attractive options available.The Department’s NEET reduction strategy is working and numbers are the lowest since consistent records began - the proportion of 16- to 18-year-olds who are NEET has reduced from 9.8% in 2011 to 6.5% in 2015[1]. Funding allocations within this budget which especially help support young people at risk of being NEET reflect these year on year successes, including: extra funding for providers to attract, support and retain disadvantaged students[2];o academic years 2013/14 - £594million; 2014/15 - £573million; 2015/16 - £569million; 2016/17 - £544million;financial support for young people who need help with their costs such as transport to enable them to participate;o financial years 2011-12 - £365million; 2012-13 - £240million; 2013-14 – £212million; 2014-15 - £239million; 2015-16 – £239million;[3]Traineeship[4] funding[5]; ando we estimate expenditure in academic years 2013/14 - £20million; 2014/15 - £35million; 2015/16 - £45millionthe Youth Contract, which commenced in 2012 and ceased in March 2016, to encourage the most difficult to reach young people to participate;financial years 2012-13 - £6.9million; 2013-14 - £11.3million; 2014-15 - £23million; 2015-16[6].[1] Participation in education, training and employment: 2015: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/participation-in-education-training-and-employment-20152 Equivalent information for earlier years is unavailable because the disadvantage block funding system changed in 2013[3] Financial year 2015-16 figures are extracts from the management accounts, final figures will be available once the statutory accounts are published[4] Traineeships were introduced in 2013. Providers target Traineeship programmes at particular groups, most commonly young people who are NEET and/or on benefits: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-young-people-to-develop-the-skills-for-apprenticeships-and-sustainable-employment-framework-for-delivery[5] These are approximations based on 16-18-year-old enrolments as funding for Traineeships is included in general provider allocations[6] The process of collecting 2015-16 delivery data for financial claims has not been completed so a reliable figure for 2015-16 is not available at this time

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to introduce a workforce quality supplement in the early years funding system to incentivise nursery settings to recruit and retain early years teachers; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Early Years National Funding Formula consultation sought views on the basket of supplements that authorities should be able to use in their local formulae. We have received over 3,000 responses to the consultation which we are currently analysing ahead of the Government response. We consider workforce policy to be a priority in the provision of quality childcare and that is why we are developing a workforce strategy to be published over the winter period.

Apprentices

Mr Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to align the goals of the apprenticeship levy with the Government's industrial strategy.

Robert Halfon: The Industrial Strategy will have a strong focus on education and skills and apprenticeships will be an important part of the strategy. The apprenticeship levy will put funding on a sustainable footing while improving the technical and professional skills of the workforce, an important component of productivity. We are well-placed to support the emerging Industrial Strategy and have already announced an increase in funding for STEM frameworks of 40% at level 2 and 80% at level 3. From April 2017, the Institute for Apprenticeships will work with employers to develop a better understanding of where apprenticeships can help address skills gaps.

Truancy: West Midlands

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of truancy rates in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Coventry, (ii) Coventry North East constituency and (iii) the West Midlands in each of the last six years; and what steps she is taking to reduce truancy rates in England and Wales.

Edward Timpson: The Department does not collect information on truancy rates in schools.Pupil absence information, including authorised and unauthorised absence, is published at school, local authority, regional and national level in the ‘Pupil absence in schools in England: 2014 to 2015’ National statistics release[1]. Parliamentary constituency level information is not available.The Government is clear that children’s attendance at school is non-negotiable and we will take the necessary steps to secure it. It is for schools to determine how they address poor attendance using the range of measures available to them, such as parenting contracts and parenting orders, or penalty notices for unauthorised absence. These measures are used to reinforce parents’ responsibilities and to support them in improving their child’s attendance at school. This policy applies to England only as education is a devolved matter.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pupil-absence-in-schools-in-england-2014-to-2015

Pre-School Education: Finance

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is her Department's policy to fund early years education outside a national funding formula.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government consulted earlier this year on proposals to ensure that early years funding is allocated efficiently and fairly across the country. Our aim is that funding reaches early years providers so they can deliver on a sustainable basis.A national funding formula is core to these proposals, and covers the vast majority of funding for early years education. Alongside this, government proposed a targeted funding stream to build the capacity of providers to support disabled children; and indicated that it intended to retain the early years pupil premium to support disadvantaged children.Government will publish a response to the consultation shortly.

Child Support

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to introduce a new support package for parents of two-year old children.

Caroline Dinenage: We are already providing support to parents of two-year-olds. Disadvantaged two-year-olds in England are eligible for 15 hours a week of free early education and childcare. The programme is aimed at narrowing the educational gap between children in particular financial, or other complex, circumstances and their peers. The eligibility criteria for the programme can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds For parents who fall outside these criteria, in 2017, the government is introducing Tax-Free Childcare, which could save them up to £2,000 per child or up to £4,000 if their child is disabled for children aged under 12 (or 17 for children with special educational needs or disabilities). Parents who qualify for Universal Credit can receive the childcare element of Universal Credit which provides direct support with childcare costs, with support with up to 85% of eligible costs as of April 2016.

Pupil Premium

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will take steps to increase the value of the Early Years Pupil Premium in line with the recommendations of the Social Mobility Commission.

Caroline Dinenage: This Government is investing £1 billion of additional funding per year in the early years free entitlements, including £300 million per year to increase the national average funding rates. The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) was introduced in April 2015 and provides over £300 per annum for each eligible child to help close the early development gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers. To develop the evidence base on the EYPP, the Department is currently undertaking through the Study of Early Education and Development (SEED), a review of the EYPP’s effectiveness. We are also undertaking a survey to explore how providers use their early entitlement funding, including the EYPP, to address disadvantage and deprivation within their settings. We are aiming to publish both reports in early 2017.

Pupil Premium

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of Early Years Pupil Premium funding has been allocated by each local authority in England since 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: Funding for the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is allocated through the early years block of the Dedicated Schools Grant. The final funding allocations to individual local authorities in respect of 2015-16 can be found in column Q at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2015-to-2016 Indicative allocations to individual local authorities in respect of 2016-17 can be found in column R at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dedicated-schools-grant-dsg-2016-to-2017

Higher Education: Finance

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2016 to Question 52097, on higher education: finance, whether those wider discussions will be undertaken by her Department or by the Department for Exiting the European Union.

Joseph Johnson: Discussions with the EU will be undertaken by the Department for Exiting the European Union.

Children: Day Care

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many providers are involved in the trial of 30 hours of free childcare.

Caroline Dinenage: York is delivering to all eligible children as part of Early Implementation of the 30 Hours Free Childcare entitlement. Currently, 197 out of 229 (86%) of York’s providers are signed up to deliver the extended entitlement, and this figure continues to increase. The remaining Early Implementer local authorities were allocated a limited number of places (around 415 each) and those areas report that providers are engaging positively with the programme.

Children's Centres

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to publish the consultation on the future of children's centres originally planned for July 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: The Prime Minister has been clear that tackling poverty and disadvantage, and delivering real social reform, will be a priority for this Government. We will consider future policy on children’s centres as part of this. We will provide further detail in due course and will make clear how stakeholders and members of the public can contribute.

Basic Skills

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the report by the OECD entitled, Building Skills for All: A Review of England, published in February 2016, whether her Department has taken steps in response to that report to increase levels of literacy and numeracy in England.

Robert Halfon: The Government is taking action at every tier of education and every level of ability to improve literacy and numeracy. The national curriculum places a strong emphasis on every child achieving secure literacy and numeracy. In English, children are taught to read well and read widely, and write with accuracy and confidence. The new English language GCSE places greater emphasis on demonstration of accurate, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Students must be able read a wide range of texts fluently, write effectively, and demonstrate sound use of Standard English. There is a much stronger emphasis across the mathematics curriculum on fundamental mathematics and numeracy. Children must be fluent in written and mental arithmetic by the end of primary school and the new mathematics GCSE offers greater assurance that all students master the numeracy required for work and life. In the upper secondary phase, since 2014 we have required every 16-19 year old yet to achieve a C grade or higher in GCSE English and mathematics to continue to study towards them. This has significantly increased the numbers of students successfully resitting their mathematics and English GCSEs. This summer, over 51,200 GCSE mathematics exams sat by students aged 17 and over were graded A*-C, up from 30,000 in 2012 before the requirement was in place. For English, the equivalent figures were 34,500 in 2016, up from 21,100 in 2012. To ensure those who leave school without having achieved a good pass at GCSE get a second chance, we have embedded English and mathematics into the heart of all our major programmes, including apprenticeships and traineeships. We strengthened apprenticeship requirements in 2014 so that all apprentices study Level 2 English and/or mathematics if they already have a Level 1 in those subjects prior to starting their apprenticeship. Alongside reforms to general qualifications, we are reforming functional skills to make mathematics and English rigorous and relevant to employer needs. We also fully fund all adults to achieve their first English and mathematics GCSE, as well as other qualifications that help them attain that level, and we continue to invest in research to determine which interventions deliver the best results for different groups of learners. In 2014, we set up the Behavioural Research Centre for Adult Skills and Knowledge with the Behavioural Insights Team to better understand the often complex blend of motivations and barriers to adults developing basic skills. Early trials are showing promising results. For example, a simple text messaging intervention can reduce mid-term drop out amongst basic skills learners in college by 36% and can increase students passing all their exams by 12%.

Pupil Premium

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the early years pupil premium in improving school-readiness; and whether her Department plans to extend the early years pupil premium to disadvantaged two year olds.

Caroline Dinenage: The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) provides additional funding to childcare providers for disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds. We are currently conducting a Study of Early Education and Development into the effectiveness of the EYPP, and also a survey to explore how providers use their early entitlement funding, including the EYPP, to address disadvantage and deprivation within their settings. Both reports are due for completion in the new year.The most disadvantaged two-year-olds already receive15 hours of free childcare and will benefit from our £300million investment in early years childcare which increases the average hourly rate for two-year-olds from £5.09 to £5.39.

Ministry of Justice

Rape: Trials

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans to review the law on use of complainants' previous sexual history as evidence in rape cases; and if she will make a statement.

Sir Oliver Heald: This Government is committed to making sure that victims of sexual abuse and rape get the support they need and have the confidence to come forward. The Justice Secretary will be meeting rape support groups later this month to discuss what more we can do to support victims. Section 41 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 is intended to protect complainants of rape and other serious sexual offences by making clear that evidence of previous sexual history is inadmissible in court unless a strict set of criteria is met. It is right that applications to admit such evidence are determined by the independent judiciary on a case-by-case basis to protect complainants whilst maintaining a defendant’s right to a fair trial. The Justice Secretary and Attorney General will be looking at how the law is working in practice.

Courts: Video Conferencing

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether she plans that vulnerable victims aged 16 and 17 will be eligible to have their cross-examination pre-recorded when section 28 of the Youth and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 is commenced.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to limit the re-traumatisation or exploitation of vulnerable 16 and 17 year old victims of sexual abuse in the criminal justice system.

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the national roll-out of pre-recorded cross-examination for young vulnerable witnesses is planned.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government is committed to making sure that vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses get the support they need and have the confidence to come forward. A range of measures already exist to help reduce their anxiety, including giving evidence through live-link to the courtroom from a different room in the court, or away from the court building altogether, and the use of a Registered Intermediary. We doubled the number of Registered Intermediaries at the end of 2015 to increase the number available to help vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses give evidence. We are also rolling out recorded pre-trial cross-examination in the Crown Courts from next year so that vulnerable witnesses, including children under 18 years, do not have to give their evidence at trial. In addition to this, we are requiring publicly-funded advocates in sexual offences cases to undertake specialist training on working with vulnerable victims and witnesses.

Community Orders and Parole

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether supervision for an offender who is subject to two or more community orders or parole licences in the same or different areas is undertaken by one or more offender managers.

Mr Sam Gyimah: An offender who is subject to two or more community orders in the same or different areas is supervised by one offender manager. Prisoners serving more than one custodial sentence in England & Wales will be issued with one licence upon release and therefore would be supervised by one offender manager.

Reoffenders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the contents or findings of a Serious Further Offence review involving probation services in England and Wales are (a) given to or (b) discussed with the victim or victim's family; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: In any case where an offender is convicted of a serious further offence (SFO), it is vital that the victim of that SFO is assured that the agencies involved in supervising the offender are committed to identifying whether there are any lessons to be learned for the supervision of other offenders. Further, a Victim Summary Report (VSR) is produced in any mandatory SFO review, to be shared, upon conviction with the victim(s) of the SFO and/or their family. The VSR is a summary of the full SFO review, in narrative form and presents to the victims of the SFO(s) in an accessible format an account of the supervising agency’s work with an offender. The main findings of the SFO review, including any lessons learnt, are pulled together and written in a report specifically with victims in mind, including with clear explanations. A senior representative of the supervising agency (NPS or CRC) will also meet the victim, which allows the victim to ask questions and provides the basis for the supervising agency to account for its actions and, where there were shortcomings, to explain how it intends to improve its practice.

Community Orders

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the number of offenders who have breached and subsequently not completed their community orders affects level payments made by the Department to the company responsible for those orders.

Mr Sam Gyimah: One of the performance measures for Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) is the proportion of offenders who completed their community sentence successfully. This means that an offender did not reoffend, or breach their order throughout the whole sentence. The measure provides assurance that sentences are being delivered in their entirety. If a CRC fails to meet the required performance for a performance measure we can require the CRC to pay a Service Credit. These are a pre-estimate of the minimum level of loss or damage as a result of a reduced provision of services by CRCs. The application of Service Credits is a standard part of our robust contract management process. So whilst the number of offenders who have breached and not completed their community order does not affect the payments made to the company directly, it can result in a Service Credit being applied.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information her Department holds on whether any community rehabilitation companies in England or Wales are using or plan to use virtual supervision in undertaking the supervision of offenders.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The owners of the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) provided their proposed operating models as part of their bid; these models were carefully scrutinised before contracts were awarded. CRCs are now in the process of implementing their new operating models. Probation officers will continue to maintain oversight of offenders through face to face meetings and telephone contact. We are aware that some CRCs plan to use new technology to extend their supervision options, including through use of Skype and biometric kiosks. We will continue to robustly manage the CRC contracts to make sure they deliver their contractual requirements, protect the public, reduce reoffending and provide value for money for taxpayers.

GEOAmey PECS

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will investigate the failure of the prisoner transport constructor GeoAmey to deliver three defendants to Plymouth Crown Court on 28 October 2016; and what the cost to the public purse was of that failure.

Mr Sam Gyimah: This incident has been investigated and the Contractor, GEOAmey, has accepted they failed to deliver one of the defendants by the time ordered by the Judge. The Judge’s Order was overlooked and instead arrangements were made to deliver that particular defendant to court at the time usually expected under the Contract, based on the distance from the prison where they were held to the court. The other two defendants were delivered to court on time in line with contractual arrangements. Liquidated damages are a standard tariff applied to all contractors as a genuine pre-estimate of probable loss based on the cost of delay to the court and which are applied incrementally according to the amount of time delayed. The liquidated damages incurred for the delay to Plymouth Crown Court on 28 October are £2,094.75 and will be paid by GEOAmey as required under the Contract.

Trade Agreements: Jersey and Rwanda

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when her Department plans to make a decision on the entrustment to facilitate a trade agreement between Jersey and Rwanda.

Sir Oliver Heald: The Ministry of Justice has received a request from the Government of Jersey for a letter of entrustment to negotiate bilateral investment treaties with third countries. We are currently consulting other Government Departments on this request and will provide a response to the Government of Jersey in due course.

Prime Minister

USA: Nigel Farage

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Prime Minister, whether Ministers have had discussions with Nigel Farage MEP on the President-elect of the US.

Mrs Theresa May: I have spoken direct to President-elect Trump.

Ministry of Defence

Afghanistan: Military Aid

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assistance the Government is providing to the Afghan National Army for (a) equipment and (b) accommodation in Afghanistan.

Mike Penning: We are not providing equipment or accommodation to the Afghan National Army (ANA). Our Armed Forces continue to mentor instructors at the Afghan National Army Officers Academy which is training the next generation of Afghan military leaders in the ANA.

Afghanistan: Royal Irish Regiment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what he expects the role of the Royal Irish Regiment to be when that Regiment is in Afghanistan in 2017.

Mike Penning: The Royal Irish Regiment will provide the UK's contribution to the Kabul Security Force (KSF). They will take over this task from the Royal Gurkha Rifles. Members of the KSF provide vital security for NATO personnel by coordinating NATO movements, base protection measures and providing support to NATO personnel endangered by security incidents in Kabul.

Iraq: Military Intervention

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his oral contribution of 7 November 2016, Official Report, column 1240, whether he plans to discuss the Coalition policy on investigating civilian casualties at the meeting of the counter-Daesh coalition to be chaired by the UK in London in December 2016.

Mike Penning: The UK policy remains that we will carry out an investigation in any case where there is credible evidence of possible civilian casualties. There are no plans to discuss an overarching Coalition policy on investigating civilian casualties at the counter-Daesh Coalition meeting which is to be held in London in December 2016.

Syria: Military Intervention

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2016 to Question 43260, what methodology the Government follows for investigating civilian casualties until the joint policy on investigating civilian casualties becomes operational.

Mike Penning: Operational commanders undertake a detailed assessment of every strike. If there were to be credible evidence from that assessment that a serious incident had taken place, a UK investigation would be initiated. Furthermore, we accept the submission by third parties of information about civilian casualties from any source and will assess that evidence in detail.

Syria: Military Intervention

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 26 July 2016 to Question 43260, what information he holds on the timetable for the joint policy on investigating civilian casualties to become operational.

Mike Penning: The Coalition continues to consider the need for a joint policy on investigating civilian casualties, but nations continue to ensure that investigations are carried out in accordance with their respective national methodology. There is currently no timetable for the implementation of a joint policy.

Kurds: Military Aid

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) gas masks and (b) escape hoods required to protect Kurdish Peshmerga forces against chemical attack during their advance on Mosul; what the estimated cost of supplying such material is; how quickly such equipment could reach such forces; what assessment his Department has made of the potential military effect of the use by Daesh of its (i) chlorine and (ii) mustard gas stocks against unprotected Peshmerga fighters; and if he will make it his policy to supply such protective equipment without delay.

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent requests his Department has received from the Kurdistan regional government for (a) gas masks and (b) escape hoods to protect its Peshmerga forces advancing on Mosul from chemical weapons attack by Daesh fighters; and what steps he is taking to ensure that such equipment is supplied to the Peshmerga without delay.

Mike Penning: The Peshmerga are playing a valuable role in the fight against Daesh in Iraq. The support and training provided by the Global Coalition, including the UK, has been a key contributor to their success. The Coalition coordinates all requests for equipment and support to ensure coherence, and has provided more than 24,000 protective chemical masks during training for the Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga in preparation for the Mosul offensive. The Coalition continues to keep this potential threat under review.

Defence Infrastructure Organisation: ICT

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 3.28 of the National Audit Office report, Delivering the defence estate, published on 15 November 2016, what his Department's estimate is of the net present value of introducing the Infrastructure Management System.

Mark Lancaster: The estimated net present value of introducing the Infrastructure Management System, as referenced in the National Audit Office report, is £3.8 million.

EU Defence Policy

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, Cm 9161, paragraph 5.35; what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on further strengthening the UK-France defence security relationship of the EU's Implementation Plan on Security and Defence.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, Cm 9161, paragraph 5.38, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on intensifying the UK's security and defence relationship with Germany of the EU's Implementation Plan on Security and Defence.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the EU's Implementation Plan on Security and Defence.

Mike Penning: At the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) on 14 and 15 November 2016, Member States agreed Conclusions on the Security and Defence Implementation Plan (SDIP) that are consistent with the UK's guiding principles: nothing should undermine or duplicate NATO, which remains the cornerstone of European defence; and the European defence industry should remain open and globally competitive. The actions agreed in these Conclusions will increase the effectiveness of the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) as well as help improve NATO/EU cooperation, including taking forward implementation of the Joint EU/NATO Declaration agreed in the margins of the Warsaw Summit.Our Defence relationships with both France and Germany are bilateral partnerships between sovereign nations, based on our common values, interests, and needs. These relationships go back a long way and will continue to endure after the UK leaves the EU. We remain committed to European security and, as set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, will continue to work with others, including bilaterally and through NATO, to tackle shared threats.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2016 to Question 52051, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the UK budget for 2017-18 for the F35 fighter programme as a result of the fall in the value of Sterling.

Harriett Baldwin: The Defence budget was agreed with HM Treasury during the 2015 Spending Review which provided the basis for prudent planning over the spending review period.The Department centrally manages the impact of variations in foreign exchange rates as part of the routine financial management of the Defence programme. The foreign currency arrangements in place will limit any impact from the current foreign exchange position for several years. Any foreign exchange considerations beyond then will be dealt with as part of the Department's annual planning cycle.

Armed Forces: Housing

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his Department's report, a Better Defence Estate, published in November 2016, on how many occasions officials of his Department met with officials of (a) the Department for Communities and Local Government and (b) the Cabinet Office to discuss plans for the defence estate.

Mark Lancaster: Since the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) of 2015 Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials have engaged regularly with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The MOD also provides a quarterly return to DCLG on the Department's performance against the Public Sector Land Sales target and how the achievement of this target contributes to the strategic plans for the Defence Estate set out in "A Better Defence Estate".Defence officials routinely meet with officials from the Cabinet Office and other Government Departments to discuss the Government's housing programme.

USA: NATO

Natalie McGarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions the Government has had with (a) President Obama and (b) President-elect Trump on NATO since 8 November 2016.

Sir Michael Fallon: The Prime Minister has spoken to President-elect Trump and the Foreign Secretary has spoken to Vice President-elect Pence to send their congratulations for the election victory. We continue to work closely with the current administration to ensure implementation of the commitments Allies made at the July NATO Warsaw Summit. We will continue to emphasise that NATO remains the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic defence and security.

Military Exercises

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to paragraph 2.1 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether his Department plans to reduce the number of personnel within 3 Commando Brigade; and if he will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Government has no current plans to reduce the number of personnel within 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, which will continue to provide part of our high readiness forces with its world-class amphibious and Arctic warfare capabilities.

Department for Work and Pensions

State Retirement Pensions: EU Nationals

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many EU nationals who live abroad claim UK state pension in each non-UK EU country; and what the total value is of these payments annually.

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many UK pensioners who live outside the UK receive pensions from other EU countries; and how many receive such entitlements from each other EU country.

Richard Harrington: The UK State Pension is paid worldwide to those who are eligible. Entitlement to State Pension is based not on nationality but on a person’s national insurance contributions record. Therefore, from the information we hold on those in receipt of the UK State Pension in EU countries we cannot separately identify EU and UK nationals. In addition, we do not hold information on pension entitlements administered by other EU countries.

Social Security Benefits

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the potential causal link between social security sanctions and the deaths of vulnerable claimants.

Damian Hinds: The Department has not made an assessment into any potential causal link between social security sanctions and the deaths of vulnerable claimants. The Department does not collect information on the cause of death of an individual. If information is received that a DWP claimant has died and it is alleged that DWP activity may have contributed to this, we would carry out an internal review to establish whether anything should have been done differently. A decision to impose a sanction is not taken lightly, and claimants are given the opportunity to provide a ‘good reason’ for not complying before the decision is made. Safeguarding measures are in place to protect vulnerable ESA recipients if there is a failure to meet a requirement. Either a DWP visiting officer undertakes a Home Visit or a Work Programme provider must make face to face contact to ensure individuals fully understand what they have been requested to do and the consequences of failing to do what is required of them.

State Retirement Pensions: Portsmouth South

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women in Portsmouth South constituency born on or after 6 April 1951 have been affected by the equalisation of state pension age for women and men.

Richard Harrington: Women born between 6 April 1950 and 5 April 1953 were affected by State Pension age equalisation under the Pensions Act 1995.The Pensions Act 2011 accelerated the equalisation of State Pension age, and included transitional arrangements limiting State Pension age delays, affecting women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 December 1953. It also brought forward the increase in State Pension age from 65 to 66 which affected women born between 6 December 1953 and 5 April 1960.Information on the numbers affected by constituent country or parliamentary constituency is not held by the Department for Work and Pensions. However, the most recent population breakdowns for England and its parliamentary constituencies by age can be found here:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/parliamentaryconstituencymidyearpopulationestimates

State Retirement Pensions

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the merits of allowing people to claim their state pension before reaching pensionable age if they have been forced to retire on the grounds of ill health.

Richard Harrington: The Pensions Act 2014, section 27, commits the Government to a structured review of the State Pension age. The first Government review of State Pension age is underway and must report by May 2017. The review will be informed by an independent report by John Cridland, which will comment on factors that the Secretary of State should take account of in the review. Mr. Cridland published an interim report on 13 October 2016, alongside a call for evidence, which will close on the 31 December 2016.

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2016 to Question 50965, if he will make it his policy to record the time taken for mandatory reconsideration for personal independence payment decisions; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The Department already records and holds data on the time taken for a claimant to receive their Personal Independent Payment Mandatory Reconsideration decision. However, whilst it gives the Department an indicative measure for performance monitoring purposes, it is not sufficiently reliable for publication purposes. The necessary work to resolve this and provide reliable statistics would be time consuming and can only be done at disproportionate cost.

State Retirement Pensions: Uprating

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2016 to Question 47647, whether his Department's policy on uprating the state pension of recipients in British Overseas Territories equates to its policy on uprating the state pensions of recipients living in other countries.

Richard Harrington: The Government has a clear position, which has remained a consistent policy of successive Governments for around 70 years. UK State Pensions are payable worldwide and are uprated abroad where we have a legal requirement to do so; for example in the European Economic Area, or countries where we have a reciprocal agreement that allows for uprating, and so annual increases are paid to UK State Pension recipients in Gibraltar and in Bermuda. We have no plans to change this policy.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Oral Answer of 14 November 2016, Official Report, column 30, what the entire amount spent by his Department was on every stage of legal action defending the under-occupancy penalty; and how many hours, at what cost, officials spent working on that case.

Caroline Nokes: The total legal costs of the proceedings in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in respect of MA & Others, Re A and Rutherford, which concerned the under-occupancy penalty, as of the 9 November 2016, when the Supreme Court judgement was handed down, was £484,077.94.This figure includes the costs of the Supreme Court proceedings in respect of MA & Others, Re A and Rutherford, as of the 9 November 2016, which was £206,842.65. Previous references to this figure were made during an Urgent Question debate and also in a recent PQ answer.These can be found at:https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2016-11-14/debates/D5D5E72C-3772-46E6-8A4F-15A8F8EBA19A/Under-OccupancyChargehttp://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=53044It should be noted that the above figures include Counsel’s fees, Government Legal Department litigation fees and other disbursements as well as VAT where payable.Government Legal Department litigation have worked approximately 1365.9 hours in relation to these proceedings. Time spent by Government advisory lawyers is not recorded in a manner that allows it to be attributed to individual cases. Time spent by policy officials supporting lawyers is also not recorded.

New Enterprise Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the quality of business mentoring provided under the New Enterprise Allowance; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) participants receive access to a business mentor who provides them with guidance and support as they develop their business plan – this is referred to as a start to NEA. There have been 117,170 starts to NEA and 90,350 businesses set up through the scheme since April 2011 to June 2016 (latest statistics available).The department published a survey in January 2016 showing that 83 per cent of Claimants who had received support from a mentor rated it helpful in supporting them to develop a business plan.This report was published on 28 January and can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-enterprise-allowance-survey.

Employment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to publish the first annual report on full employment.

Damian Hinds: The Government is committed to achieving full employment in the UK and The Government has committed to publish the report within a year of commencement of section 1 of the Welfare Reform & Work Act. This means the first report is due to be presented to Parliament before 16 May 2017.

Employment and Support Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much was spent through the Work Programme on employment support for claimants of employment and support allowance in each of the last six years.

Penny Mordaunt: Work Programme Spend on ESA claimant groups£ million2011/12302012/13542013/14652014/15562015/1652The figures above agree to the DWP published Annual Report and Accounts for each of the years quoted, and those quoted in https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/325995/Work_Programme_Costs_v7_2014-07-01.pdf which contains Work Programme costs for the period from inception in June 2011 to March 2014

Employment and Support Allowance: Parkinson's Disease

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people diagnosed with Parkinson's are in the employment and support allowance work related activity group.

Penny Mordaunt: The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants in the Work Related Activity Group, with Parkinson’s disease recorded as their main disabling condition, is 190 as of May 2016. Notes:Figure is rounded to the nearest 10.

Department for Work and Pensions: Liverpool City Region

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people working for his Department or its executive agencies in the Liverpool City Region on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wages Foundation; and how many such people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

Caroline Nokes: A new statutory National Living Wage was announced in the 2015 summer budget for those aged 25 and over. DWP pays all direct employees at least the statutory National Living Wage, regardless of age.a) There are no individuals directly employed by DWP in the Liverpool City Region who are paid below the rate promoted by the Living Wage Foundation. There are no directly employed individuals on zero-hours contracts.b) DWP’s temporary agency staff are employed in line with Agency Workers Regulations which ensures parity with directly employed staff after 12 weeks. These specialists are usually involved in a defined package of work or project and are not engaged on zero hour contracts.c) The department’s Estate is provided by Telereal Trillium under the outsourced PRIME contract. Services are delivered through a number of service partners. All Telereal Trillium and service partner staff employed both within or outside London are paid at, or in excess of, the corresponding National Living Wage.DWP employs a range of trusted third party contractors to provide Office support services – this includes 856 staff who whilst earning more than the Government’s National Living Wage earn less than The Living Wage Foundation’s rate of £8.25 ph, of these 52 are on casual contracts ( not zero hours). It is not possible to confirm the numbers located in the Liverpool City Region.For all other categories of spend, information shows that staff are in receipt of the National Living Wage or higher and are not employed on zero hour contracts.

Attendance Allowance

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has for transferring the administration of Attendance Allowance to local authorities; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: The Business Rate Retention consultation published by the Department for Communities and Local Government sought views on a wide variety of financial measures for Local Authorities in England including giving greater support for older people with care needs through local provision. The responses to this consultation are currently being considered and the Government will issue its response in due course.The Government recognises the valuable role that Attendance Allowance has played in supporting older people with care needs as a result of their disability or long term health condition. Should changes be considered to the support currently provided by Attendance Allowance as part of any Business Rate Retention package, a further detailed consultation would be undertaken on this specific issue and we would involve key stakeholders in this process.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Pay

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of women are employed by her Department on an outer London pay structure in the following pay grades (a) Administrative Assistant, (b) Administrative Officer, (c) Executive Officer, (d) Higher Executive Officer, (e) Fast Streamer, (f) Senior Executive Officer, (g) Grade Seven, (h) Grade Six, (i) Senior Civil Service Band 1, (j) Senior Civil Service Band 1A, (k) Senior Civil Service Band 2 and (l) Senior Civil Service Band 3.

George Eustice: The proportion of female staff based on an Outer London pay structure, by headcount, is shown below. These figures are based on the proportion of female staff on an “Outer-London” pay band in comparison against all female staff in the Department.  GradePercentageGrade 60%Grade 70%Senior Executive Officer1%Higher Executive Officer1%Fast Streamer0%Executive Officer1%Administrative Officer1%Administrative Assistant0%Note: % shown is of total of female staff on an Outer London pay structure, rounded to the nearest whole number  There is no Outer London pay structure for Senior Civil Servants.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Pay

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of women are employed by her Department on a non-London pay structure in the following pay grades (a) Administrative Assistant, (b) Administrative Officer, (c) Executive Officer, (d) Higher Executive Officer, (e) Fast Streamer, (f) Senior Executive Officer, (g) Grade Seven, (h) Grade Six, (i) Senior Civil Service Band 1, (j) Senior Civil Service Band 1A, (k) Senior Civil Service Band 2 and (l) Senior Civil Service Band 3.

George Eustice: The proportion of female staff based on a non-London pay structure, by headcount, is shown below. These figures are based on the proportion of female staff on a “non-London” pay band in comparison against all female staff in the Department.  GradePercentageGrade 621%Grade 727%Senior Executive Officer33%Higher Executive Officer38%Fast Streamer7%Executive Officer29%Administrative Officer22%Administrative Assistant33%Note: % shown is of total of female staff on a non-London pay structure, rounded to the nearest whole number There is no non-London pay structure for Senior Civil Servants.

Veterinary Services: Prices

Amanda Solloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing price regulation in the veterinary industry.

George Eustice: The Government has no plans to introduce price regulation in the veterinary industry. The prices of veterinary services are driven by market forces and vary according to the animal sector involved, the region of the UK and the costs incurred by individual veterinary practices. The fees charged are a private matter between the client and the practice.

Agriculture: Energy

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to protect farmers from fluctuating energy costs; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Countryside Productivity Scheme provides grants for energy efficiency measures such as the installation of LED lighting in livestock housing. This can reduce a farm’s energy consumption and improve animal health and productivity. Tractors and light agricultural vehicles are exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) and entitled to use rebated gas oil (red diesel) when used on public roads solely for purposes relating to agriculture, horticulture or forestry. The Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) is a £15 million fund aimed at helping rural communities in England. It commenced operation in June 2013 and is co funded by Defra and BEIS. The fund helps rural communities to develop local renewable energy projects, one of the aims being to provide a greater choice of energy options in rural areas. As part of a rural community, farms would be a welcome partner in a community project.

Ash Dieback Disease

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's most recent assessment is of the extent of the spread of ash dieback disease across UK woodland; and if she will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The spread of ash dieback has been progressing much as expected. This is based on the scientific modelling of the outbreak undertaken by Cambridge University. The Government has a comprehensive surveillance programme in place to monitor the infection. The level of infection is widely variable in areas, with the south-east of England being most affected. A map showing outbreaks is updated regularly and available online at: http://chalaramap.fera.defra.gov.uk/  Local effects on landscapes and woodlands will mostly be gradual and mitigated by other tree species taking the place of ash trees. We have invested more than any other country in research on Ash Dieback and UK scientists have identified the country’s first ash tree that shows tolerance to ash dieback. As part of this work we are conducting the world’s largest screening trials to identify further disease-tolerant trees.

Cats: Animal Breeding

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she made of the potential merits of the regulation of commercial cat breeding to improve safeguards for cat welfare through the introduction of cat breeding licensing, welfare conditions and standards and an inspection process.

George Eustice: There are no proposals to introduce a licensing regime for cat breeding. The only licensing regime for animal breeding relates to dog breeding and this is because of past concerns about the welfare conditions at some such breeding establishments. Local authorities have powers under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to investigate any concerns about the welfare standards at cat breeding establishments.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many inaccurate Common Agricultural Policy payments were made to farmers in (a) St Helens North, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each year since 2010.

George Eustice: The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) said it would investigate Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) 2015 claims where there’s a discrepancy between the claim information and that held on the Rural Payments service, through a planned payment reconciliation process. This started after the BPS 2016 application window closed and looked at an initial stock of 13,600 claims for England. Of these claims, 14 related to farmers in St Helens and 41 in Merseyside. The RPA does not hold this information for the UK. The agency will continue to investigate new queries which customers raise and make any top-up payments due. No comparable data is available for the previous scheme which ran between 2005 and 2014.

Arable Farming

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons field margins have not been included in ecological focus areas on arable farms in England.

George Eustice: Under the new Common Agricultural Policy we made five options for greening available in England, these include Buffer Strips and Land Lying Fallow. These options allow English farmers to gain credit for uncultivated arable land at field edges

Department for Communities and Local Government

Shared Ownership Schemes

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much under the shared ownership and affordable homes programme 2016 to 2021 has been allocated by (a) region and (b) tenure.

Gavin Barwell: We published the prospectus for the Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes 2016-21 programme on 13 April and bidding closed on 2 September. Assessments are currently being made by the Homes and Communities Agency on the basis of the criteria set out in the national prospectus rather than any pre-set regional allocations.

Non-Domestic Rates

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much transitional relief for business rates his Department has provided to businesses in each (a) NUTS 1 region and (b) local authority area in each fiscal year from the start of the programme to 2016-17.

Mr Marcus Jones: The 2010 transitional arrangements covered the period 2010-11 to 2014-15. The table below shows the gross amount of transitional relief provided by each NUTS 1 region in each of the years 2010-11 to 2014-15: Transitional relief provided (£)Region2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15North East47,391,77525,455,04617,447,18212,436,3309,401,241North West124,995,08473,004,67246,818,18329,186,84320,662,066Yorkshire & The Humber94,328,87646,785,73125,082,59310,512,4426,617,079East Midlands41,428,72325,968,90315,720,0797,876,4942,665,375West Midlands46,299,11721,793,38311,199,5085,578,1032,583,349East of England101,847,72959,132,11241,064,81730,497,85722,068,510London673,500,293360,788,571130,802,08132,730,75311,638,964South East England124,369,99558,214,94229,443,32515,101,3866,946,859South West104,679,57353,211,10928,643,25714,642,1177,482,594England1,358,841,164724,354,470346,221,026158,562,32690,066,037Information on the amount of transitional relief provided at the local authority level is published on the Department’s website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/national-non-domestic-rates-local-authority-level-data.

Non-domestic Rates

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the amount in devolved business rates which will be collected by each combined authority in each of the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: Combined authorities are not currently part of the business rates retention scheme and neither collect, nor retain local business rates.

Death: Weather

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much his Department has spent to limit excess winter deaths in each of the last five years.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 18 November 2016



The Department has not spent money specifically targeted on limiting excess winter deaths in the last five years. Through the Local Government Finance Settlement, the department distributes funding to local government. It is for local government to determine how best to manage its own finances to ensure it delivers the appropriate level of services for its residents. Local authorities will be aware of the guidance provided by Public Health England through the Cold Weather plan which makes recommendations for the NHS, public health, social care and other community organisations, to support vulnerable people who have health, housing or economic circumstances that increase their risk of harm.

Council Tax

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2016 to Question 52130, what criteria the Government applies when considering its approach to council tax equalisation; and whether the Government has issued advice on that subject to local authorities considering proposals for reorganisation.

Mr Marcus Jones: Holding answer received on 18 November 2016



Any criteria for council tax equalisation would be developed on a case-by-case basis. The Government remains committed to working with local authorities to keep council tax low for hard-working taxpayers. It has issued no guidance to local authorities considering proposals for reorganisation.

Social Services: Finance

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to give local authorities full financial autonomy for social care funding.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department distributes funding to local government through the Local Government Finance Settlement. In addition local government raises its own finance through local taxes. Social care funding is not ring-fenced and local government already has autonomy to determine how best to manage its own finances to ensure it delivers the appropriate level of services for its residents.

Selby-Hull Railway Line: Electrification

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the rejection of the proposal fort electrification of the Selby to Hull railway line on the Government's plan for a Northern Powerhouse.

Andrew Percy: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Owner Occupation

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the levels of home ownership has been in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in each of the last six years.

Gavin Barwell: The English Housing Survey reports that the levels of home ownership in England in each of the last six years were:2009-10: 67%2010-11: 66%2011-12: 65%2012-13: 65%2013-14: 63%2014-15: 64%DCLG does not publish regional data.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Staff

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many civil servants in his Department are assessing the effect of exiting the EU on Wales.

Alun Cairns: The Department for Exiting the European Union has responsibility for overseeing preparations for the withdrawal of the UK from the EU and conducting these withdrawal negotiations in support of the Prime Minister. In doing this it is working very closely with other Government departments, including the Wales Office. The Wales Office has refocused its priorities following the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union and work relating to exiting the EU now forms part of the policy portfolio of most staff.

HM Treasury

Treasury: Freedom of Information

Caroline Lucas: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Freedom of Information requests his Department has received in respect of requests for documents relating to meetings held between the oil and gas sector and Ministers and officials of his Department; what response his Department provided to those requests; and what the reasons were for each such response.

Simon Kirby: The information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Company Accounts: Multinational Companies

Caroline Flint: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he or his predecessor have held with his EU counterparts during 2016 to discuss the European Commission proposals for public country-by-country reporting.

Mr David Gauke: The Chancellor of the Exchequer and other Treasury Ministers continue to meet with their European counterparts on a regular basis, including at the Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council, to discuss issues including tax transparency.

Company Accounts: Multinational Companies

Caroline Flint: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to participate in EU proposals to introduce a form of public country-by-country reporting after the UK leaves the EU.

Jane Ellison: The Government has set out its objective for a comprehensive and effective model of public country-by-country reporting that is agreed on a multilateral basis. The UK will remain supportive of international efforts – in the EU and elsewhere in the world - to deliver that objective.

Multinational Companies

Caroline Flint: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings he, his predecessor or Ministers of his Department have had during 2016 to date with representatives of multinational enterprises which have a UK turnover exceeding £600 million annually.

Simon Kirby: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Company Accounts: Multinational Companies

Caroline Flint: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2016 to Question 44206, what his policy is on which countries would need to introduce public country-by-country reporting before the UK would introduce such reporting.

Caroline Flint: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2016 to Question 44206, how many countries would be deemed sufficient to trigger the UK's introduction of public country-by-country reporting.

Jane Ellison: The Government has set out its objective for a comprehensive and effective model of public country-by-country reporting that is agreed on a multilateral basis.That means getting sufficient international agreement such that all groups – both UK headquartered and non-UK headquartered – are required to report accessible information for a broad range of countries in which they operate.

Bank of England

Natalie McGarry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it remains government policy to maintain the Bank of England's independence.

Simon Kirby: The operation of monetary policy in the UK is independent of Government. This is a crucial cornerstone of the UK’s macroeconomic framework. The Government’s position on this has not changed.

Public Expenditure: Scotland

Natalie McGarry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on Scotland's public finances.

Mr David Gauke: We have always been clear that this is a new chapter for the United Kingdom, but our economy is fundamentally strong. We will work closely with the Scottish Government – and get the best possible deal for all parts of our United Kingdom as we conduct our negotiations for leaving the EU.

Bank Services: EU Law

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on (a) the timetable for the implementation of the Second Payment Services Directive and (b) date on which regulations arising from that Directive will be laid before Parliament.

Simon Kirby: The UK remains a full member of the European Union and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force, until exit negotiations have concluded. During this period the Government will continue to negotiate, implement and apply EU legislation.The Government expects to lay the implementing legislation to transpose the revised Payment Services Directive (PSDII) in Parliament in early 2017 and will be consulting on the draft legislation shortly.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of employers' PAYE payments to HM Revenue and Customs could not be reconciled correctly to the employer's PAYE account for the PAYE period in which they arose in each month since real time information was introduced.

Jane Ellison: HM Revenue and Customs does not collect the information requested.

PAYE

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employers have formally disputed HM Revenue and Customs' calculation of their liability to PAYE in each month since real-time information began.

Jane Ellison: HM Revenue and Customs has annual data of the number of employers who have disputed their liability to PAYE.In 2014-15, of the 1.8 million employer schemes, 37,065 formally disputed their liability to PAYE. In 2015-16, of the 2 million employer schemes, the number of employers formally disputing their liability was 40,902.

Inflation: Food

Nick Smith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the change in the value of Sterling on the cost of food in the calculation of inflation for UK households.

Simon Kirby: The independent Office for National Statistics is responsible for producing the calculation of the Consumer Price Index measure of inflation. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. The OBR will publish a full analysis of the prospects for inflation in their forecast at Autumn Statement.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Devolution

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what contingency planning the Government has undertaken on the role of the three devolved national parliaments in voting to trigger the Article 50 process.

Mr Robin Walker: The people of the UK voted as a whole to give the Government a clear instruction, and we intend to fulfil that instruction in a way that fully complies with the law and our commitments.The Prime Minister has committed to full engagement with the Devolved Administrations to get the best possible deal for all parts of our United Kingdom as we leave the EU. We will give the Devolved Administrations every opportunity to have their say as we form our negotiating strategy and we will look at any suggestions they put forward.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many civil servants are working on exiting the EU projects related to Wales.

Mr David Jones: All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. We are not in a position to give a final total for particular groups of staff as recruitment is ongoing and we will not be giving a running commentary. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has just over 300 staff, and is growing fast.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Staff

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, which teams comprise his Department; which policy areas those teams work on; and how many people are in each such team.

Mr David Jones: The Department for Exiting the European Union’s published organisation chart and the policy areas and teams within DexEU can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/545007/Department_for_Exiting_the_EU_-_Senior_Management_Team.pdf. This chart is kept under review and updated to reflect any structural changes.All departments are equipping themselves with the resources they need to get the best deal for the UK. The Department for Exiting the European Union now has just over 300 staff, and is growing fast. We are not in a position to give a final total for particular groups of staff as recruitment is ongoing and we will not be giving a running commentary.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what proportion of trade in Welsh goods and services was undertaken on a tariff-free basis in accordance with free-trade agreements negotiated through the EU in the last 12 months.

Mark Garnier: The Department for International Trade does not hold the requested information for trade in Welsh goods and services. According to departmental analysis of ONS statistics, approximately 11% of UK goods exports benefitted from reduced or zero tariffs under trade agreements between the EU and third countries in 2015. This figure takes into account preferential agreements that are not free trade agreements.

Exports: Swindon

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value of exports emanating from Swindon was in each year since 2010.

Mark Garnier: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 21 November 2016.The correct answer should have been:

Data relating to the geographical area including Swindon are published as per below: a) Swindon Growth Hub - These figures cover trade in goods only for 2015. The Swindon Growth Hub is defined as an area that incorporates all of SN and BA postcodes – see attached spreadsheet, taken from the link below:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/FreedomofInformation.aspxSource: HM Revenue and Customs. b) HMRC Regional Trade Statistics database – These figures cover trade in goods only since 1996. Data are available for the Government Region South West and all other Government Regions:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/RTS/Pages/default.aspxSource: HM Revenue and Customs. c) ONS Regionalised Estimates of UK Services Exports – These are experimental statistics covering trade in services during 2011-2014. These data are on a different basis than the HMRC data in (a) and (b) above. Data are available for the Government Region South West and all other Government Regions – see attached spreadsheet, taken from the link below:http://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/estimatingthevalueofserviceexportsabroadfromdifferentpartsoftheuk/2011to2014/relateddataSource: Office for National Statistics



Swindon Growth Hub 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36.96 KB)




ONS Regionalised Estimates of UK Services Exports 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 335.5 KB)

Mark Garnier: Data relating to the geographical area including Swindon are published as per below: a) Swindon Growth Hub - These figures cover trade in goods only for 2015. The Swindon Growth Hub is defined as an area that incorporates all of SN and BA postcodes – see attached spreadsheet, taken from the link below:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/FreedomofInformation.aspxSource: HM Revenue and Customs. b) HMRC Regional Trade Statistics database – These figures cover trade in goods only since 1996. Data are available for the Government Region South West and all other Government Regions:https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/RTS/Pages/default.aspxSource: HM Revenue and Customs. c) ONS Regionalised Estimates of UK Services Exports – These are experimental statistics covering trade in services during 2011-2014. These data are on a different basis than the HMRC data in (a) and (b) above. Data are available for the Government Region South West and all other Government Regions – see attached spreadsheet, taken from the link below:http://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/estimatingthevalueofserviceexportsabroadfromdifferentpartsoftheuk/2011to2014/relateddataSource: Office for National Statistics



Swindon Growth Hub 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36.96 KB)




ONS Regionalised Estimates of UK Services Exports 
(Excel SpreadSheet, 335.5 KB)

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Broadband

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what comparative assessment she has made of the speed and reliability of UK broadband services with that of other EU countries.

Matt Hancock: Ofcom conducts regular reviews of the UK’s fixed and mobile broadband performance in comparison to other EU countries through publication of the European Scorecard report. The Scorecard was proposed by my department before being taken up by Ofcom in 2013.The latest EU Scorecard report published on 1 December 2015 and an updated report published on 4 March 2016 can be found at https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/broadband-research/eu-bbroadand-scorecard

Kids Company

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the first grant the Government paid to Kids Company in 2015-16 is her Department seeking to recover for the public purse.

Mr Rob Wilson: We are still engaging with the Official Receiver about retrieval of any remaining Grant funds.

Kids Company

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government made any provisions for the purposes for which the first assistance funds paid to Kids Company in 2015-16 could be used.

Mr Rob Wilson: The Grant agreement set out a clear set of delivery targets which Kids Company were expected to achieve.

European Capital of Culture

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much her Department has budgeted for the overall running of the competition to decide the potential winner of the European Capital of Culture 2023.

Matt Hancock: The administrative costs of running the 2023 competition process has yet to be determined.

Big Lottery Fund: West Ham United Football Club

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2016 to Question 50167, on the Big Lottery Fund: West Ham United Football Club, if she will make publicly available the Memorandum of Understanding referred to in that Answer.

Tracey Crouch: I am happy to publish the agreement between the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the Greater London Authority regarding the repayment of £675m provided in 2007 from the National Lottery Distribution Fund to help meet the costs of delivering the London 2012 Games. The Big Lottery Fund's share of this money is £425m. This agreement is attached.



DCMS-GLA agreeement
(PDF Document, 759.99 KB)

Broadcasting: EU Law

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU on the date of implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.

Matt Hancock: There is no effect of the UK leaving the EU on the date of implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services. The date of implementation will be set by the Commission.

National Lottery

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with the operators of the National Lottery on inclusion in the negotiations on the UK leaving the EU of provisions to permit the continued participation of UK citizens in the Euromillions lottery.

Tracey Crouch: EuroMillions currently operates across nine European countries and EU membership is not a requirement – for example, EuroMillions has operated in Switzerland, a non-EU country, since 2004.

House of Commons Commission

Members: Offices

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Rt. hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2016 to Question 51170, if the Commission will purchase ramps for wheelchair users to access those hon. Members' offices that do not yet have step-free access.

Tom Brake: Ramps for wheelchair users are currently available on the estate for visitors and more can be made available to facilitate access to Members’ offices. The Managing Director of In-House Services will be happy to speak to any hon. Members about their individual needs.

Department of Health

Accident and Emergency Departments: Closures

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he or Ministers of his Department plans to meet NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission to discuss accident and emergency closures in the next four weeks.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Department’s Ministers hold regular meetings with NHS Improvement and the Care Quality Commission to discuss a range of issues. The redesign and delivery of front-line health services is a matter for the local National Health Service – clinically led by front line NHS organisations and clinicians who are closest to the needs of communities and therefore best-placed to make decisions in the interests of their patients. All reconfiguration proposals are assured by NHS England taking into account the four reconfiguration tests as mandated by the Government in 2010, and which all local reconfiguration plans should demonstrate: - support from general practitioner commissioners;- strengthened public and patient engagements;- clarity on the clinical evidence base; and- support for patient choice.

Autism

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many local authorities have published an autism strategy; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that all local authorities are producing such strategies.

David Mowat: This information is not held centrally. The autism strategy Think Autism published in 2014 and statutory guidance published in 2015 for local authorities and National Health Service organisations encourages the effective development of local autism strategies for meeting the needs of adults with autism in their local population, as identified in their local needs assessments. Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups should work together to commission services for children with special educational needs, including autism. This should include publishing a ‘Local Offer’ of services.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many emergency admissions there were in the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is in the table below. NHS England publishes the number of emergency admissions each month. The total number of emergency admissions in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust are shown in the table below. Number of emergency admissions in Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust1, 2013-14 to 2015-16 YearTotal emergency admissions via accident and emergency (A&E)Total emergency admissions (including those not via A&E)2013-14133,98136,3182014-1547,19050,4002015-1649,10758,543Source: A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions, NHS England Note:1 In October 2013 South London Healthcare NHS Trust was dissolved and one of the hospitals, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, was merged with Lewisham Healthcare Trust to form Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Therefore data is only directly comparable for 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many elective admissions there were in the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust in (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is in the table below. NHS England publishes the number of elective general and acute admissions each month. The total number of elective general and acute admissions in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 for Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust are shown in the table below. Number of elective general and acute admissions, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, 2013-14 to 2015-16 YearNumber of elective admissions2013-1436,9312014-1547,8442015-1646,196Source: Hospital Activity data, NHS England Note:In October 2013 South London Healthcare was dissolved and one of the hospitals, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, was merged with Lewisham Healthcare Trust and formed Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. Therefore data is only directly comparable for 2014-15 and 2015-16.

Cardiovascular Disease

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the achievements of the (a) Cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes strategy and (b) CVD expert forum since their establishment.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2016 to Question 46460, who the members of the Cardiovascular Disease expert forum are; and how regularly that forum meets.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 13 July 2016 to Question 42224, what the remit of the Cardiovascular Disease collaborative group is; and how regularly that group meets.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2016 to Question 46460, what the stroke-specific aims and objectives of the Cardiovascular Disease expert forum are.

David Mowat: No assessment has been made of the achievements of the Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Outcomes Strategy or the CVD collaborative group. The CVD collaborative group is still in the early days of establishment. Its principle purpose is to bring together relevant stakeholders in the field of CVD and to provide a forum where relevant work being undertaken in this area and potential new initiatives can be discussed and responsibilities for action determined. The group’s overarching objective is to improve health outcomes for people with or at risk of CVD, including stroke. Membership of the group comprises of representatives from NHS England including the relevant National Clinical Directors; Public Health England; Diabetes UK; British Heart Foundation; Heart-UK; British Kidney Health Association; Stroke Association and the Local Government Association. The group aims to meet three times per year.

Cancer

Craig Tracey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the lack of direct guidance to GPs on suspected cases of metastatic cancers in the NICE guideline Suspected cancer: recognition and referral on the (a) time taken for the diagnosis, (b) accuracy of diagnosis and (c) number of cases of such cancers.

David Mowat: No assessment has been made by the Department on the potential effect of not including specific recommendations on metastatic symptoms in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline for suspected cancer published in June 2015. However, we recognise that metastatic cancers can present with vague or unusual symptoms that might be harder to diagnose quickly. The scopes of NICE guidelines are developed through consultation with stakeholders, including patient groups. NICE has advised that during the scope consultation for the clinical guideline on suspected cancer, it was noted that recommendations on recurrence or metastases would be better placed in site specific cancer guidance. ‘Suspected cancer: recognition and referral’ is designed to help general practitioners (GPs) refer people with suspicious symptoms promptly and to the right pathway. Some of these symptoms will be those of advanced disease, but it is not always possible to specify or exclude metastatic disease at this level of granularity. NICE developed a guideline in 2010 on metastatic malignant disease of unknown primary origin in adults: diagnosis and management. More generally, Wave 2 of the Accelerate, Coordinate, Evaluate programme led by NHS England is under way, testing a new, multi-disciplinary diagnostic centre approach to diagnosing patients. The model is focussed on patients with vague or unclear but concerning symptoms, to ensure they receive a diagnosis as quickly as possible. If successful, multi-disciplinary diagnostic centres will enable patients to receive a suite of tests following referral from their GP, avoiding a situation where patients go between primary and secondary care and multiple specialisms several times before receiving a diagnosis. A new Diagnostic Capacity Fund has been rolled out to support initiatives to build the capacity and capability of diagnostic services across the country. The fund will focus on redesigning and streamlining patient pathways, to ensure that patients receive the right tests at the right time, as efficiently as possible.

NHS Protect

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will provide the equivalent information given in the Answers of 15 October 2015 to Question (a) 11427 and (b) 11428 for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2015-16.

Mr Philip Dunne: Since 2009-10 NHS Protect only took responsibility for cases that were assessed as more complex or serious investigations, cases that had national implications and were not deemed local matters, cases that crossed regional boundaries or cases where resources or use of certain legislative procedures could not reasonably be expected to be applied at a local level. The nature and type of these cases has meant that fewer investigations and prosecutions have taken place. The information requested is shown in the following tables. The number of prosecutions by NHS Protect following investigations of fraud in each category for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2015-16 is shown in the following table.YearDoctorsNursesOther Medical ProfessionalsDirectors of National Health Service trustsOther NHS Staff2009-10226110242015-1601305 The number of prosecutions by NHS Protect in each category for fiscal years 2009-10 and 2015-16 is shown in the following table.YearFraudViolenceBriberyCorruptionTheftMarket Fixing2009-1063000002015-16900000

Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the financial health of the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: NHS Improvement advises that in 2015/16 Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust delivered a surplus of £3.873 million, in line with plan. For 2016/17, at month 6 (year to date) the Trust delivered a surplus of £0.491 million, £0.969 million ahead of plan.

NHS Trusts: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to improve the financial situation of NHS trusts across England and Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The National Health Service leadership bodies have set out their own plan for delivering financial sustainability for the NHS, in the Five Year Forward View (October 2014) and Strengthening Financial Performance and Accountability document (July 2016). This plan sets out how individual NHS organisations should address spending pressures, instil financial discipline, tackle inefficiencies and deliver financial sustainability. To support that plan we are investing in the NHS. Funding will increase by £10 billion in real terms over the six years since the Five Year Forward View was published. This additional funding will help to improve NHS trusts’ financial position and transform services for patients based on that planned investment — subject to strict conditions. This will allow hospitals to focus their efforts on making the NHS a truly seven day service, offering the same excellent world class care every day of the week. We have provided an additional £3.8 billion in 2016-17 alone, which includes a £1.8 billion Sustainability and Transformation Fund to help NHS providers to move to a financially sustainable footing. There is no room for complacency. That is why the NHS needs to stick to its strong financial plan, supported by our £10 billion investment and series of measures to help hospitals become more efficient and reduce the use of expensive agency staff.

NHS Trusts: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that funding for NHS trusts remains in line with projected demand for services; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: To deliver the Five Year Forward View, the Department of Health is providing the National Health Service with an additional £10 billion of real terms funding by 2020/21 compared to 2014/15. NHS England and clinical commissioning groups then commission activity from NHS trusts. Where this is commissioned under the National Tariff, funding to providers varies in line with the volume of activity. The annual increase in the tariff (the tariff uplift) is also a benchmark for activity commissioned under block contracts and other exceptions to National Tariff arrangements. The tariff uplift includes an efficiency requirement, and NHS trusts are making a contribution to the overall efficiencies that the Five Year Forward View sets out to deliver.

Royal Brompton Hospital

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the estimated cost implications are of the proposed closure of congenital heart disease services at Royal Brompton Hospital, including (a) the cost of expanding provision elsewhere and (b) transferring staff and services.

Mr Philip Dunne: Congenital heart disease services are paid for through tariff. Therefore, if NHS England proposals were to be implemented, and this resulted in changes to the flow of patients, funding for treatment would follow the patients. NHS England is working with providers to seek assurances of their ability to accept additional patients if required to do so. This includes considering the effect of the potential changes on staff and to understand the cost implications of the changes which it is proposing.

Paediatrics: Greater London

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many paediatric intensive care unit beds there are in central London; and how many of those beds are at the Royal Brompton Hospital.

Mr Philip Dunne: The information requested is in the table below. NHS England publishes monthly data on critical care bed capacity, including the number of paediatric intensive care beds. The data reports the numbers of beds that are open, as a snapshot, at midnight on the last Thursday of the month. Number of paediatric intensive care beds in central London and the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust open on the last Thursday of the reporting period, September 2016 OrganisationNumber of Paediatric intensive care bedsCentral London of which:102Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust24Source:  Critical care bed capacity and urgent operations cancelled, NHS England

NHS Trusts: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the proportion of NHS trusts which were in financial deficit in each of the last six years; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The number of trusts that have reported the year-end financial deficit over the last six years is summarised in the table below:  Number of National Health Service trusts reporting a deficitTotal number of NHS trusts% in deficit2015-1615924166%2014-1511724648%2013-146524826%2012-132624910%2011-123125312%2010-11132495%

Dementia

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average waiting time is for people accessing psychological and specialist neuropsychological assessments for the diagnosis of dementia.

David Mowat: Information on the average waiting time for people accessing psychological and specialist neuropsychological assessments for the diagnosis of dementia is not held centrally.

Dementia

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure families and carers are fully involved in the planning of care for the people experiencing dementia.

David Mowat: In January 2016, the Department published a joint declaration on Dementia Post-Diagnostic Care and Support signed by leaders across health, social care, local government and voluntary sector organisations. The purpose of the Declaration is to ensure that the views of people living with the effects of dementia and their families and carers are taken fully into account when determining the nature of post-diagnostic services offered. The Care Act 2014 further requires that when an individual is assessed as having eligible care and support needs, including those with dementia, they will have a personalised care plan that details their care and support needs, and how these will be met. The adult, their carer, and any other person the adult requests, must be involved in the development of the care plan, and agree with the content of the plan.

Air Pollution

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has been instructed to concentrate on ambient air pollution and not to carry out any work on indoor air pollution.

Nicola Blackwood: The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) discussed the indoor air pollution content of its work programme and acknowledged that COMEAP’s work has been out of necessity, dominated by ambient air pollutants to support and inform the national air quality plans. This work has taken priority, even though COMEAP’s remit includes both ambient and indoor air pollution. Given the current work priorities for COMEAP, it is unlikely that it will be engaging in work on indoor air pollutants over the coming year. The Department has asked the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to develop guidance on indoor air pollution. NICE is currently working with Public Health England to develop the scope for this guidance.

General Practitioners: Bristol

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much of the estimated £2.4 billion funding by 2020-21 for the General Practice Forward View is planned to be allocated to support GPs in Bristol; and by what method that allocation will be distributed.

David Mowat: NHS England advises that future local allocations of funding set out in the General Practice Forward View (GPFV) are under discussion within the context of local Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) currently being developed to ensure that local health systems are safe and financially sustainable. GPFV funding will be used to support a programme to achieve greater sustainability of primary care across the south west. In 2016/17, £916,287 has been allocated to the region and NHS England South West is working with STPs and clinical commissioning groups to devolve the funding to local areas. A total of £326,000 will be spent in the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire STP area. The STP has identified south Bristol as one of two priority resilience areas, and work is underway to agree specific support. For 2018-20, south Bristol will continue to be prioritised within the STP area provided it remains under pressure and at greater risk. NHS England and the STP team will publish specific plans once they are agreed.

WiFi: Health Hazards

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the risks posed by WiFi and related electromagnetic fields to children.

Nicola Blackwood: Government policy is that exposures to electromagnetic fields from Wi-Fi and other radio equipment should comply with the guidelines on limiting exposures from the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The former Health Protection Agency published a comprehensive review of the evidence prepared by its independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation in 2012. The Group’s overall conclusion was that although a substantial amount of research has been conducted in this area, there is no convincing evidence that electromagnetic field exposures below guideline levels cause health effects in either adults or children. Exposures from Wi-Fi equipment are well within the ICNIRP levels. Public Health England (PHE) advice is that there is no consistent evidence to date that exposures adversely affect the health of the general population. PHE has committed to keeping emerging evidence under review and preparing another comprehensive review when sufficient new evidence has accumulated.

Incontinence: Health Services

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which Clinical Commissioning Groups have put into practice the NHS England Excellence in continence care guidelines published in November 2015.

Dr Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps NHS England has taken to promote the Excellence in continence care guidelines to (a) clinical commissioning groups, (b) patient groups and (c) the general public.

David Mowat: Excellence in Continence Care is best practice guidance and NHS England does not currently hold information on which clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have put the guidance into practice. However it anticipates auditing CCGs in future in order to capture this information. NHS England issued a press release and secured significant media coverage to launch the guidance in 2015 and has promoted it to a range of audiences including special interest groups, professional societies and provider organisations. In addition to media work, NHS England has engaged with key stakeholders who form part of the Excellence in Continence Care Board. The Board membership has evolved over time and has included clinical experts working in National Health Service organisations, patient advocates and representatives. Board members support NHS England to raise awareness of the guidance to special interest groups, patients groups, professionals within their extended networks which recently included the Association of Continence Advisors Conference.

Strokes

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions Ministers and officials of his Department have had with NHS England on the expiry of the National Stroke Strategy in December 2016.

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what meetings Ministers and officials of his Department have had on the National Stroke Strategy since October 2016.

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which key indicators defined as important in the National Stroke Strategy are not currently measured by the sentinel stroke national audit programme.

David Mowat: Decisions on whether the stroke strategy should be renewed are a matter for NHS England. The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) collects detailed data on the processes of care that a stroke patient receives in hospital. SSNAP covers all of the key aspects of care identified in the National Stroke Strategy. It also collects data on the care that discharged patients receive from community stroke teams (early supported discharge and community rehabilitation teams as well as bed based rehabilitation facilities) and provides the opportunity for clinicians to enter follow-up data six months after the stroke occurred. However, SSNAP does not collect data on patient experience and outcomes, areas highlighted as important in the strategy.

Audiology

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS Trusts that provide both adult and paediatric audiology services have received accreditation for their adult service alone.

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS Trusts have gained accreditation for paediatric audiology services.

David Mowat: NHS England does not hold information on which NHS trusts provide both adult and paediatric audiology services. As of 1 November 2016, NHS trusts with Improving Quality in Physiological Services accreditation of adult audiology services are: - Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- Bolton NHS Foundation Trust- Royal Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust- University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust- The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust- Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust- North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust- Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust As of 1 November 2016, the following NHS trusts have gained accreditation for paediatric audiology services: - Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust- Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust- Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust- University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust- University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust- Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust- South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust- University Hospitals South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust- Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust- Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust- The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust- Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust- Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust- Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust- Hearing Services - Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust In addition Chime Social Enterprise Community Interest Company, as a significant NHS provider, has gained accreditation for paediatric audiology services.

Department of Health: Sick Leave

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many working days were lost due to mental illness in his Department in each of the last three years.

David Mowat: The numbers of working days lost due to mental illness in the Department in the past three years are given in the table below. YearTotal Working Days Lost due to Mental Illness1 April 13 - 31 March 141,4161 April 14 - 31 March 152,3431 April 15 - 31 March 162,074  The above figures are for civil servants only. Mental illness, as a reason for absence, has a standard definition across the Civil Service and includes stress and anxiety.

Pharmacy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patient referrals (a) GPs and (b) other NHS bodies received from pharmacies in each year since 2009-10.

David Mowat: The number of patients referred from pharmacies to general practitioners and other National Health Service bodies is not recorded.

Food: Hygiene

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if his Department will take steps to improve consumer access to food hygiene ratings through online food ordering platforms.

Nicola Blackwood: The Food Standards Agency is working with businesses in England and Wales offering online ordering to encourage the online publication of ratings. The display of ratings online is currently on a voluntary basis so ultimately it will be for each business to decide whether or not to display the ratings. The Food Hygiene Rating Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 requires for any food business which supplies consumers with food, which they order by means of an online facility, to ensure that establishment’s food hygiene rating is provided online. The draft ‘Food Hygiene Rating (Online Display) Regulations (Northern Ireland)’ are currently in development and it is envisaged that a public consultation will be launched in December 2016.

NHS: Sustainable Development

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish all correspondence between NHS England and (a) Hull City Council, (b) Hull Clinical Commissioning Group and (c) Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust on Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

David Mowat: NHS England has no plans to publish all correspondence between NHS England and Hull City Council, Hull Clinical Commissioning Group and Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust on Sustainability and Transformation Plans.

Chemists' Shops: Kingston upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will estimate the number of pharmacies in Hull which are at risk of closure in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18 as a result of planned changes to community pharmacy funding.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the planned changes in community pharmacy funding in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18 will fall on pharmacies based in each deprivation decile Lower-Layer Super Output Areas.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of the planned funding from the Pharmacy Access Scheme will go to pharmacies based in each deprivation decile Lower-Layer Super Output Areas in (a) England and (b) Hull.

David Mowat: The reforms to community pharmacy are about improving services for patients and the public and securing efficiencies and savings. Although it is possible that the closure of some pharmacies may result from the savings we need to make, that is not our aim. We are not able to assess which pharmacies may close because we do not know the financial viability of individual businesses or the extent to which they derive income from services commissioned locally by the National Health Service or local authorities or have non-NHS related income. We have created a Pharmacy Access Scheme (PhAS) to safeguard patient access in areas with fewer pharmacies and higher health needs. Details of the PhAS were published on 20 October 2016. All small and medium pharmacies that are located more than a mile from another pharmacy will qualify for the scheme. Currently, 1,340 pharmacies qualify for the PhAS. One pharmacy within Kingston upon Hull North qualifies. It is within the lowest decile of deprivation. PhAS pharmacies will receive fixed monthly payments, in addition to other fees and allowances, including the quality payment. These will be roughly equivalent to the funding reduction for each pharmacy, with a small efficiency saving. On average, this will equate to about £11,600 per annum in 2016/17 and about £17,600 per annum in 2017/18 for each eligible pharmacy. Reviews of eligibility will be granted for pharmacies that may have narrowly missed out on the PhAS through the distance criteria, but are in areas of high deprivation and critical for patient access. This will cover pharmacies that are located in the top 20% most deprived areas in England, and which are located 0.8 miles or more from another pharmacy. For this purpose, we will look at the top 20% of Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs), when ranked by the Index of Multiple Deprivation. LSOAs are a standardised unit of geography in the United Kingdom. An LSOA varies in geographical size according to population density, but has an average population of about 1,600 in 2011. Additional funding for successful reviews under this “near miss” criterion will be made available as required. This will influence the overall distribution of community pharmacy funding, including in deprived areas.

Pharmacy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many Healthy Living Pharmacies there were in (a) Hull and (b) England in each year since 2009-10.

David Mowat: Data is not collected centrally on the number of Healthy Living Pharmacies routinely. However, information on the number of Healthy Living Pharmacies is available for 2015 and 2016 following a survey carried out of Healthy Living Pharmacy Leads, by Public Health England. Details of the numbers are included in the table below. Number of Healthy Living Pharmacies in England and HullYearHealthy Living pharmaciesEnglandHullJanuary 20151,86620January 20162,15520Note: Data on the number of Healthy Living Pharmacies is not centrally collected. The Local Government Association has mapped the distribution of Healthy Living Pharmacies throughout England using the postcodes of accredited pharmacies. This can be found at: http://lginform.local.gov.uk/reports/lgastandard?mod-metric=4621&mod-period=1&mod-area=E92000001&mod-group=AllLaInCountry_England

Clinical Priorities Advisory Group

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 7 November 2016 to Question 51260, where an error in a recommendation made by NHS England's Clinical Priorities Advisory Group is found following investigation by the Director of Specialised Commissioning, what process would be followed for reconsideration of that recommendation.

David Mowat: Where any error in forming a clinical policy has been identified, the proposal will be re-considered by revisiting all elements of the process that were impacted by the error. If, for example, a document was missing from the consultation pack of papers in error, the consultation would be re-run with the correct papers.

Malnutrition: Children

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people under the age of 16 were admitted to hospital with malnutrition in each (a) English region and (b) parliamentary constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many pregnant women were admitted to hospital with malnutrition in each (a) English region and (b) parliamentary constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Nicola Blackwood: The information is not held in the format requested.

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will direct NHS England to develop a specialist referral clinic to support and treat people with persisting mild to moderate cognitive and neurobehavioral problems as a result of exposure to carbon monoxide.

Nicola Blackwood: Commissioning of services to support and treat people with persisting mild to moderate cognitive and neurobehavioral problems would be the commissioning responsibility of clinical commissioning groups. Specialised cognitive and neurobehavioural services already exist for brain injury and are included in the NHS England specialised neurorehabilitation service specification. The Department’s activity focuses on raising awareness amongst the public and medical professionals to the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Aspartame

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the possible link between the use of aspartame and seizures ahead of VimPat gaining approval by the European Commission.

Nicola Blackwood: In 2013, the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) completed a comprehensive risk assessment of the safety of aspartame as a food additive and concluded that aspartame and its breakdown products are safe for human consumption, including pregnant women and children, at the current level of exposure. The EFSA panel agreed with previous opinion that the available data did not provide evidence for a relationship between aspartame consumption and enhanced susceptibility to seizures. In April 2016, taking the EFSA review into account, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published a draft of updated labelling guidance for products containing aspartame, which can be found at the EMA website below:www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Scientific_guideline/2016/05/WC500205999.pdf There were no significant changes proposed to the current guidance on ‘Excipients in the label and package leaflet of medicines for human use’ (CPMP/463/00 Rev 1), which can be found at the EMA website below: http://www.ema.europa.eu/docs/en_GB/document_library/Scientific_guideline/2009/09/WC500003412.pdf Vimpat (lacosamide), an antiepileptic drug, has been authorised in the European Union since 29 August 2008 and is currently approved as an add-on therapy to other antiepileptic medicines in the treatment of partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in adult and adolescent (16-18 years) patients with epilepsy. Vimpat syrup contains aspartame and this is declared in the product literature. As with all medicines, after approval, the safety of the medicine is continuously monitored throughout their use in healthcare practice by pharmacovigilance activities. New safety signals reported by patients/healthcare professionals will be monitored/reviewed continuously.

Alcoholic Drinks: Consumption

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the Chief Medical Officer's alcohol consumption guidelines on public health.

Nicola Blackwood: The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ (CMO) low risk drinking guidelines were published in January this year. It is too early to say what impact of the UK CMOs’ low risk drinking guidelines will have on alcohol consumption but we will be monitoring the public awareness of the guidelines through the Health Survey for England, commissioned by NHS Digital, which will be published in December 2016.

Mental Health Services

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the average number of treatment sessions received by clients of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme was by clinical commissioning group for (a) clients who completed treatment and (b) all referrals ended in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: Data on the average number of treatment sessions received by clients of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies programme who completed treatment was first reported in April 2015. These are available by clinical commissioning group in the monthly activity data files from April 2015 onwards, which can be downloaded from the links under ‘Monthly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset Reports’ at: http://content.digital.nhs.uk/iaptreports The average number of treatment sessions for all referrals, including those who did not complete treatment, is not reported.

Tobacco: EU Law

Sir Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect on small retailers of the introduction of those bans on small and flavoured tobacco packs prescribed in the EU Tobacco Products Directive that was not part of the original impact assessment for that Directive.

Sir Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effects of the introduction of the EU Tobacco Products Directive; and whether he has made an assessment of the removal of small and flavoured packs that was not part of the original impact assessment for that Directive.

Nicola Blackwood: The Impact Assessment published alongside the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 at:www.legislation.gov.uk sets out the Government’s view on the likely impact of the Directive, including an assessment of the removal of small and flavoured packs. The Department is committed to a full statutory review of the functioning of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations, which implement the European Union Tobacco Products Directive, within five years of entering into force. The statutory review must be accompanied by an Impact Assessment.

Tobacco: EU Law

Sir Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) process and (b) timetable is for reviewing the implementation of the EU Tobacco Products Directive in light of the UK's decision to leave the EU.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department is committed to a full statutory review of the functioning of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations, which implement the European Union Tobacco Products Directive, within five years of entering into force. The statutory review must be accompanied by an Impact Assessment. This is one of the many areas that the Government is considering carefully as part of the process of leaving the EU. Until exit negotiations are concluded, the United Kingdom remains a full member of the EU and all the rights and obligations of EU membership remain in force.

Mental Hospitals: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young people aged 17 years or under by age were treated in adult health wards in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Nicola Blackwood: We do not hold any verified data on the numbers of children and young people aged 0-17 treated in adult psychiatric wards.

Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much his Department has spent on research into suicide prevention in each year since 2010.

Nicola Blackwood: The information requested is not available. The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Department’s Policy Research Programme (PRP). Spend on research funded directly by the NIHR is categorised by Health Research Classification System (HRCS) health categories including ‘mental health’. There are no HRCS health sub-categories, such as for suicide prevention. Investment in mental health research by the NIHR has risen from £50 million in 2010/11 to £73 million in 2015/16. This includes significant research relating to suicide prevention. Current investment in this area by the NIHR includes a £1.8 million multi-centre programme of clinical and public health research to guide health service priorities for preventing suicide. To complement delivery of the national suicide prevention strategy, the PRP commissioned six research projects addressing four priority issues, with total investment of £1.5 million.

Mental Hospitals: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many young people aged 17 years or under were admitted to mental health hospitals outside their home (a) clinical commissioning groups and (b) area teams in England in each of the last five years.

Nicola Blackwood: We do not have information in the form requested.

Mental Hospitals: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what informationhis Department holds on the number of occasions on which there were no tier four child and adolescent mental health services beds available in (a) England and (b) each region of England since April 2015.

Nicola Blackwood: The Department does not hold this information. NHS England commissions tier 4 child and adolescent mental health services beds across England using unverified management information.

NHS: Sustainable Development

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what his Department's policy is on the level of consultation required before approval of a sustainability and transformation plan.

David Mowat: All footprints submitted an updated plan in October. Many have been published and we expect the remainder to be published before the end of the year. Many footprints are already publishing patient-facing summaries as part of a wider engagement programme. We expect all local leaders to be talking to the public and stakeholders regularly – it is vital that people are able to shape the future of their local services. No changes to the services people currently receive will be made without local engagement and, where required, consultation. There are longstanding assurance processes in place to make sure this happens.

NHS: Liverpool City Region

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people working for the NHS in the Liverpool City Region on a (a) directly employed, (b) agency or (c) outsourced basis are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wages Foundation; and how many such people are employed on zero-hours contracts.

Mr Philip Dunne: This information is not collected by the Department. From April 2016, all employers in the United Kingdom were required to pay a new National Living Wage of £7.20. Minimum National Health Service pay, in line with the Staff Council’s agreement on Agenda for Change, is currently greater than the National Living Wage.

Cannabis

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether (a) his Department and (b) the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has reviewed the latest evidence, including evidence on different regulatory approaches in other jurisdictions, for the use of medical cannabis.

Nicola Blackwood: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reviews evidence submitted by a company seeking a marketing authorisation for a medicinal product in the United Kingdom. One product containing extracts of cannabis, Sativex, has been licensed as a medicinal product by the MHRA. However, no such application has been received in respect of herbal cannabis, and therefore the MHRA has undertaken no review of the evidence for its medicinal use. Outwith the MHRA licensing process, the Department has not conducted or commissioned a review of herbal cannabis or its regulation in other jurisdictions.

Women and Equalities

Motor Vehicles: Insurance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to the report entitled Ethnic Penalties in Motor Insurance Premiums by Webber Phillips, published in July 2016, what assessment her Department has made of concerns raised in that report that some car owners may be being charged higher premiums due to their ethnicity.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment her Department has made of how transparently (a) insurance companies and (b) other providers of a public good (i) formulate the price of their products and (ii) ensure any pricing structure is not affected by the consumer's ethnicity.

Caroline Dinenage: The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society and sets out the different ways in which it is unlawful to treat someone. There are specific exceptions for providers of financial services such as insurance companies, which allow them to use a person’s age as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products. However, insurers are not able to use a person’s race as a factor in assessing risk and charging for their products. The pricing of risk is a commercial decision for individual insurers, and differences in premiums reflect different insurers’ experience of claims and other industry-wide statistics. While insurers are not required by the Financial Conduct Authority to be transparent about pricing decisions, it expects firms to comply with relevant legislation, including the Equality Act 2010, and can undertake its own enquiries to better understand what the firm is doing and whether any of its regulatory requirements have been breached.

Public Sector: Equality

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2016 to Question 49845, if she will provide a draft copy of the Public Sector Equality Duty guidance to the hon. Member for Brent Central in advance of its wider publication; and if she will place a copy in the Library.

Caroline Dinenage: I will be happy to provide the hon member with a copy of the updated guidance once it is ready to issue. I will also at that stage place a copy in the Library.